Helghan's Reach
by Doomsdayguy12345
Summary: In another universe they were a world, in this one they are an island nation that all feared. Spawned by a destructive past the promises of a peaceful future seem to be within the grasps of a new generation of Helghasts. How far will an act of goodwill between peoples go when wounds of the past still fester? Is peace within or far from Helghan's reach?
1. Chapter 1

Darkness, it has always existed, long before the warming embrace of light. Space itself was mostly a suffocating blackness that only the stars could hope to penetrate, the only hope for life to exist in the coldness of the universe.

Darkness however did not just exist as the natural lack of light as it was commonly known for, in the case of the Grimm it was their very nature, creatures of Darkness that sought only the destruction of Man and his creations, tirelessly pursuing Man in a bid to return man back to dust for whence he came from.

Yet darkness was not exclusive to the Grimm, Man was also capable of using darkness as well.

The Helghast Empire was an example of Man's ability to live his darkest of desires born from his intensions of goodwill and well-meaning to his fellow man.

From the ashes of the Mantle Empire this nation formed as members of Mantle's failing government and its most profitable partner, the Helghast Corporation escaped the wrath of Vale's King and the world it had tried to force its policies upon in a bid to ward off the Grimm that plagued Remnant.

Upon a distant landmass, the Helghast Corporation had previously setup a colony where Mantle's more radical leadership tried to retain their status, thus started a long perilous war between Mantle's Remnants and the various corporations that funded the initial venture. Chaos and unimaginable hardship took the lives of many, the Grimm joined the fray making the already brutal war for survival bleaker as the air itself seemed to want the colonists dead.

Hope however came in a most unlikely form.

A man formed alliances with his founding corporation and the larger Helghast Corporation, a man whose influence and charisma united a starving sickened desperate people, a man that gave them pride, honor, courage, and the ability to not only conquer the land they now called Helghan but make it into a powerhouse that would eventually take its place in the world..

The conditions of their new home spelled the highest death tolls at the start of the war, but the newer generations were able to adapt and evolve to the hostile climate, conquering it as the war itself came to a close with Visari declaring the people of Helghan the Helghast Race.

All Helghast were an offshoot of the Human Race, none of the Faunus that originally came to Helghan were able to evolve, they either died because of the poisonous air or died fighting, therefor preventing their race from transcending to that of Helghast status. The non-Dust mineral Petrusite was the cause for the poisonous atmosphere, Dust that was found on Helghan however did not come close to the potency of Petrusite and was valued less that the toxic mineral.

Years would pass and eventually during the Faunus War of Independence the Kingdoms would discover the Helghast Empire by mere chance as a Vacouian war ship had the misfortune of crossing into the waters of the Helghast nation. In a show of force the ship was sunk upon the beach of Pyrrhus, but as a show of mercy the Autarch of Helghan allowed one survivor.

A month after the massacre at Pyrrhus a Helghast gunboat delivered the survivor, beaten and starved, traumatized from inhumane torture to the leaders of the Human Kingdom Vacuo, soon word spread to all Kingdoms and people that an Empire inspired by the teachings of the Mantle Empire lied just beyond Menagerie to the Southwest of the world.

Envoys from multiple Kingdoms and even the Faunus themselves attempted to contact the Helghast leadership but all they received in return were the thunderous roar of guns and the savage warcry of the Helghast boarding parties, it was made clear that the Helghast intended to be friends of no one.

Though years have passed since what was known as the Helghast Emergence War, a war that saw to the recognition of the sovereign Empire over the islands near the Empire's reach, as the years passed Visari began to age and his ambitions yet broaden, now after claiming their place in the world he steadily began making peace treaties with the Kingdoms to establish trade to make the Helghast economy flourish with Dust exports as the material to them was inferior to Pertisite.

Thus, began their relations with the Schnee Dust Company.

* * *

Five years post Helghast Emergence War…

The Schnee Mansion was all in a buzz, servants were about preparing the mansion for its foreign guests that would soon be arriving, everything had to be perfect by Jacques Schnee's standards so he'd be able to give his guest a good impression of Atlas' prime aristocrat family. The guest he would be entertaining would be staying in his home for the duration of business and international negotiations.

His family stood beside him with erect backs and tried their best to look regal, the guest should be arriving in but a few mere minutes and yet he was still unsatisfied with how his house looked.

"Winter, back straight." He chided at his eldest daughter.

"Yes Father." The shorter girl said with a forced stoic face.

His eyes went over both of his daughters and young toddler son with a very serious glare, "I want all of you on your best behavior, we are having a very important guest coming, he and his retinue will be staying here for the next month or so. Do not do anything that will embarrass the family."

"Yes Father." All the children said with their eyes cast to the ground.

"Sir!" A butler said running up to the Schnees, "He's coming."

"Places, everyone places now!" Jacques whispered yelled to the Schnee staff.

The butlers and maids scrambled to the empty walls that lined the gallery room, they stood with their heads bowed and with their arms behind their backs.

From behind two double doors several men clad in long black trench coats armed with StA-52s bursted through with their weapons in a low ready rest position, red eye pieces glowing angrily at the maids and the butlers who stared in absolute shock, even the Schnees themselves seemed caught off guard by the soldiers clad in black. Two Helghast Shock Troopers stood by the doors holding them open as the air shimmered around the doorway.

The form of a tall man clad in the finest of Helghast uniforms strolled in with a rather casual attitude, his glowing eyepieces seemed to burn holes into Jacques's head as they seemingly locked eyes.

"Room secured Colonel Radec!" One of the Shock Troopers reported giving the typical Helghast left hand salute.

No word escaped the Colonel as a second smaller figured appeared into existence from the shimmering air, this figure stood head to toe at Radec's waist, clad in a similar uniform albeit at a smaller size and with a red tunic covering the front of his uniform, his mask was less complex as dark brown hair poked out from the mask's straps.

Colonel Radec looked to his side down at the smaller boy for a second before he went back to observing the room itself, his head cocking here and there, examining the staff with a glance, "I see your family takes the theme of white very literally."

Jacques nodded his head to the Colonel, "Yes we do, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Colonel Mael Radec."

"Like wise Mister Schnee, but please, call me Colonel Radec." With his right hand the Helghast Colonel tapped a side of his helmet that deactivated his eyepiece's florescent glow and shift open to reveal his upper portion of his face around his eyes.

"Might I ask who the young fellow accompanying you is?" The Patriarch of the Schnee family asked looking down at the little soldier.

The large Helghast gestured down to the smaller boy with his left hand, "This is my son, Koza. He is my only son, hopefully he will take over my new academy when I retire, though he will have to earn that honor."

Koza Radec performed the left-handed salute saying, "Hail Helghan!"

All the Helghast troopers in the room started chuckling lightly as the Colonel himself let a small ounce of laughter escape as he patted his son on the head, the Schnee children also let the inkling of childish grins cross their faces.

"Good lad." Mael said patting his son's head.

"He's a very lively boy I see," Jacques said using a fake smile, honestly though he was a bit disappointed with how the famed Hound of Visari was being so laxed with his son, "I'm sure he'll be a fine soldier one day."

"Yes, he will, now who are these three little Schnees?" The Colonel asked as his dark green eyes peered down at them.

Jacques set his hand on Winter's shoulder, "My oldest daughter Winter, her younger sister Weiss, and my youngest Whitely."

The Colonel held focus on each child for a few seconds before bringing his eyes back up to Jacques, "Now that pleasantries are out of the way, shall we get down to business?"

Jacques Schnee adopted a more serious expression as he motioned for the Colonel to follow him, "Yes, lets. Just follow me to my office."

Colonel Radec followed Jacques down a hall but he glanced back to his retinue, "Sergeant Benzin, watch him. Be good Koza."

A Helghast Shock Trooper shouldered his weapon and stood by Koza patting the boy's shoulder, "He'll be back soon lad."

The Little Helghast nodded to the older soldier but then his little goggled eyes fell on the Schnee children who had a butler standing near them. Whitely was taken by his mother off to one hallway, leaving Weiss and Winter staring at the black clad crimson eye pieced child.

Weiss looked at her sister then to Koza and raised her hand nervously and waved at the boy. A few seconds passed before he to raised his hand to wave. Feeling bolder the smaller Schnee girl started walking towards the two Helghasts, she looked up at the bigger soldier.

The Shock Trooper looked down at the future heiress and saw she looked somewhat intimidated by his size, "I'm not gonna bite ya."

Still though the small girl felt even smaller compared to the Helghast, out of good will the soldier took a few steps back from the two children, "Don't be strangers now. Introduce yourself to the little lady Koza."

Bright red goggles met icy blue eyes as he blinked at the girl, "Hi. I'm Koza."

"I'm Weiss."

Both children stood awkwardly, looking at each other, then the floor, then back to each other,

"You have very white hair." Koza said in desperation to keep up conversation.

"Thanks," Weiss said stroking her pony tail, "why do you wear a mask?"

"Most Helghast can't breathe the air, I can for a while but it's also a culture thing too." Koza looked up to Sergeant Benzin, "Right?"

The Sergeant nodded, "Yes young master Koza, you're the start of a new generation of evolved Helghast, the mask isn't a priority to you like it is for your father and others of our race. That's a good thing."

"Oh, okay. Thank you Sergeant Benzin." Koza said to the large Helghast.

Benzin bowed his head slightly to Koza, "Why don't you and your new friend go play or something, I'll be close by."

Koza looked to Weiss, "Do you want to play or something?"

"Sure!" Weiss said, she looked back to Winter, "Want to come play with us Winter?"

The older Schnee sibling nodded and led the children down the hall to a playroom the Schnee children often played in, Sergeant Benzin and the butler followed behind the children giving them some room to be independent of adult authority.

In two years' time the Helghast would leave Atlas and return to the Helghast nation. Of course, during that time any that observed the relationship of the Helghast boy and the young Schnee girl they would tell you that they were good friends and that it broke both of their hearts when his father's business was done with the Schnee's and a trade deal was properly arranged with the Kingdom of Atlas and the Helghan Empire.

* * *

Ten years later, Vale Docks…

From the back of a Vale News van a TV played the live broadcasting of a historic event currently unfolding at this current moment, "This is Lisa Lagender, reporting live from the vale news Network. At around 7:00AM Vale Standard time, a ship docked at our harbors bearing students from the Helghast Empire to the Southwest. I'm getting word that we our own Cyril Ian is on the scene. Cyril?"

The view pans out to a man holding a microphone in front of a cameraman, "Things down here at the docks are rather tame Lisa but there are protesters here as well hoping to deter or get the message out to the Helghast that they are not getting a warm welcome to Vale."

"Has it turned violent?"

"No Lisa it has remained rather tame but who could say until the Helghast themselves arrive."

A sizeable crowd had gathered around the fishy piers in the early hours of the day as visitors from across the globe, the crowd varied in their personal opinions of the visitors in a very vocal way that would no doubt get their message to the foreigners without any miscommunication.

A very sizeable part of the crowd arrived with signs that welcomed the visitors with peaceful intentions and mild manners, compared to the protesters of the crowd that held a large measure as well with their signs telling the Helghast that they were not welcome and that their atrocities were not forgotten, some even had the derogatory term of 'Hig' written on the signs.

However, two people stood on the far side of the docks where the Helghast exchange students were going to be dropped off. Of course, these people were none other than Headmaster Ozpin and his Vice Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch, both instructors were well versed in the Helghast culture and history and were anxious in meeting their new students.

"I sincerely hope that no one in the crowd does anything stupid." Glynda groaned as she glimpsed over to see the protesters yelling and screaming a mantra.

"Hey, hey, ho, ho, Higs have to go! Hey, hey, ho, ho, Higs have to go!"

Ozpin raised his eyebrow at the protesters, "Don't worry about them Glynda, the Helghast have thick skin."

She crossed her arms looking out to sea, "Still, they are rather unpredictable."

"Have some faith Glynda, they are tying after all." Ozpin said as the ship carrying the Helghast visitors, the protestors themselves even died down in chanting as the Helghast national flag fluttered in the salty sea air on top of a slender black ship.

Red stripes ran around the black ship as it slowed its speed down as docking procedures began. A Helghast trooper stood manning an anti-air gun at the bow of the ship, he did not look at the crowd instead he stared forward with his hands around the trigger guard of the gun.

The protesters in the crowd kept deadly silent as they fear the Helghast gunner would fire upon them, little did they know that the gun was empty and on safe.

From one of the doors on the ship came a column of Helghast soldiers, they stood by the edge of the ship as it pulled up to the ramp of the dock. As soon as it connected the Helghast stepped back from the edge and filed into two separate columns in front of the door they initially exited from, completely blocking off the crowds view of whomever would be walking out of the door.

The two Beacon administrators could not even see who was going to descend from the ramps.

From the bowels of the dark ship came a man that stood with his back erect, metal armor of Helghast designs covered his shoulders and chest, arm pads and knee pads were plastered with the Helghast Triad, on his shoulder an eagle held said triad for the world to behold. His mask was of a unique design, if one were to guess it was Colonel Radec they would be half wrong as this was not the good Colonel.

It was his son, wearing similar armor to that of his father, from across his chest he showed off his own personal touches to the armor with a red tunic covering the armor down to his belt.

On his right hip was a mace in the form of an unlit torch, on his back another mace that bore similar resemblance to the previous weapon. Across his left forearm and right forearm were nine-inch combat knives, a holster strapped on Koza's calf held a StA-18 pistol. Lastly a grenade bandolier was hidden beneath his tunic.

From behind Koza came another Helghast bearing remarkable resemblance to the Colonel most knew as White Death, however once again this was not the man that inspired fear in both Helghast and Man, it was his son, Sobieski Cobar. His uniform bore the same color of white however it had red lines between the natural black lines of the uniform to give himself somewhat of a separation from his rather animated father.

Next came a Helghast Commando with bulging biceps that had tattoos of Helghast propaganda written in the Helghast language, strapped on his shoulder was a large battle axe that bore the Triad of Helghan along the blades, two pistols were holstered on his hips, with one hand he held onto a LMG that was slung along his shoulders in a casual manner. Dog tags hanging from his neck read, Sergeant Eli Gruber

Lastly came a far more skinner Helghast male, one that bore resemblance to Jorhan Stahl, if he was decades younger. His name was Antoine Stahl, heir to the Stahl Corporation, much like his father he wore a suit that however seemed to be his casual wear as you normally would not see a longsword strapped across a businessman's back but a StA-18 holstered across his chest was not uncommon. What was missing from him however was the signature mask upon his face, it instead hung around his neck in a lax fashion as the air was something he could tolerate.

A common trait all four of them had was that in their left hands were a large duffle bag that carried their necessities, Eli however had two, with one stacked on the other as he was holding onto his favorite weapon for good luck, at least until they left the boat.

"I don't like this place already." Antoine said as he caught a glimpse of the derogative signs the protesters had.

Sobieski snarled at the sight of the protesters, "Do we really have to do this PR shit? Instead of getting some Petrisite warheads pointing at this focking place?"

"Calm down the two of you, a bunch of pricks with signs isn't the whole Kingdom," Koza chided looking over his shoulder.

"Please, please let one of those pussies with signs do something stupid." Sobieski plead to the sky as he wanted to bury his fine leather gloved knuckles into the faces of the Human scum below him.

"Enough of that chatter, we are here on peaceful terms and we will not start anything or so help me by the Autarch's name I will blast your head full of sunshine." Koza warned with an eerily familiar tone of threat his father would use, however with much more censorship to it.

"Fine, it's not like I want to beat some focking Humans to death at all." Cobar grumbled trying to glare fiery red death at the Humans and Faunus protesting their arrival.

A Helghast in a regal officer's uniform cut off the four former students of Radec Academy off before they could head down their ramp, "I have been informed that all of your fathers wish you four the best of luck out there in the kingdom of Vale, the Emperor, our glorious Autarch has prepared a short message for you four before you depart this vessel."

The column took three large steps back to allow the four boys enough room to see the message the Helghast Officer was about to deliver, from his inner coat pocket the Navy Officer removed a tablet-like device and held it at a horizontal angle, red light erupted from the device making up a twelve-inch rendering of the man all the boys looked up to besides their own father's.

Scolar Visari.

"Sons of Helghan, you four were specially handpicked from the ranks of the elite class of Radec Academy. Your fathers before you played immense roles in the construction of our great Empire, if not for them our road to greatness would have been far more treacherous and difficult. You four will represent the best Helghan has to offer, you are the faces of our great nation, the path before you shall not be one to tread lightly upon, many dangers exist in the world outside of Helghan, deceit and corruption is rampant, disunity, cowardice, and greed are the mainstays of the outside world. Guard yourselves well and remember: loyalty, duty, obedience, these are the Helghast Triad, the pillars that hold our nation together, never forget them. Hail Helghan, hail to you, Helghan's pioneers of peace."

The four boys and immediately struck out with their left arms and slammed their left fists against their chests with bowed heads, "Hail Helghan! Hail Visari!"

Both columms and the Naval Officer repeated the action in a thunderous roar, "HAIL HELGHAN! HAIL VISARI!"

As Ozpin saw the first transfer student descend from the ramp up to the ship the Helghast soldiers aboard the ship continued their chant, drowning out the protesters in their sheer volume. By the time all four students made it down the ramp a lot more soldiers had gathered alongside the side of the ship and the bow, continuing their chant and salute to the former students of Radec Academy.

The first student, Koza Radec if he remembered correctly came right up to him with his right hand stuck out, "Headmaster Ozpin I presume?"

Ozpin met his grip and shook his hand, "Koza Radec, I remember when you were about as high as my knee."

Koza nodded as he towered Ozpin, "I remember your visit to Helghan and my father's academy, it is a pleasure to meet you again sir. Madame Goodwitch."

"It's Professor Goodwitch." She said with a coldness yet met his grip in a shake as well, "How do you do Mister Radec?"

"Fine Professor, but please, its Captain Radec." The Helghast said in a very cheeky manner.

Professor Goodwitch was not amused by the smart mouthed Helghast but she wasn't too interested in arguing with him, "Come along now, we need to get to the Bullhead docks before the crowd gets too rowdy."

"Oh, I hope it does get rowdy." Cobar said cracking his neck, "Oh boy do I hope it gets rowdy."

"Cobar." Koza said wearily.

The white clothed Helghast pointed at the protesters with a snarl, "They dare insult our glorious leader with crude drawings, how can the thought of breaking bones not pop in your head?"

"Because the Autarch wants us to be a sign of peace," The taller and more imposing Helghast clad in black said as he got in Sobeski's face, "and part of that is maintain self-control. If you cannot keep yourself reigned in then I will reign you in myself. Got it?"

Both crimson goggled warriors kept their stare as the atmosphere in the group turned somewhat tense, Professor Goodwitch looked between Ozpin and the two Helghasts expecting him to do something, Eli and Antoine just stood looking at the stare down with disinterest.

The Cobar boy started chuckling lowly breaking the stare, "Fine. I'll be good."

"Good. If you behave Cobar you get to spar the Huntsmen first." Koza said leading the Helghast team down the boardwalk with the Beacon administrators following them.

"Yes!" Sobeski cheered to himself, pumping his fist in the air.

"Oh Dust." Professor Goodwitch groaned pinching her brow.

Policemen kept the already divided crowd divided from each other to make a pathway to a bus meant to take the Helghast and Beacon administrators to the Bullhead docks, members of the pro peace crowd held out flowers and tossed confetti into the air, their signs depicted Helghast soldiers and a diversified number of representatives from each Kingdom shaking hands or holding hands together in a circle.

It was a stark contrast to the protesters calling them monsters, holding up signs depicting them as great horrific beasts in political cartoons, others just straight up called them Higs, the most derogative thing someone could use as an insult to the Helghast Race, something that greatly irritated Cobar and Eli Gruber as the glared hatefully at the protesters, but both kept their tongues in their mouths and their hands busy with their bags.

A man however, a reporter to be more specific managed to get past the blockade with his camera man, "Sir, after just arriving to Vale what are your opinions of the citizens on the pier?"

The Helghast Captain took the microphone from the reporter and spoke as clearly as possible, "I care very little about people that do not matter or have anything relevant to do with me or my government, the opinions of a bunch of people that have done nothing for their people's security matter as much to me as the nonexistent smell of fish this pier without a doubt has. We have come here as a sign of goodwill to all, to usher in a new era for both of our peoples and though we are insulted by this slander of our Emperor, race, and our glorious nation I still have hopes of a bright future ahead of us if there are more people such as the ones behind me. That will be all we have to say."

The reporter, crowd, and even the Headmaster himself were taken aback by the words the young Helghast had said in a rapid session, in a way he insulted the protesters by comparing them to the fish he could not smell with his mask on but at the same time sent a message of peace and possible unity.

To everyone that had not known Koza Radec such a thing was unprecedented and amazing. Yet to those that knew him, they knew he had thought of every word he was going to say as soon as he saw the crowd.

Hence is why Weiss Schnee was unsurprised to hear such words from her old childhood friend. The Heiress was watching the live report on her scroll while at the same time she was getting ready to greet the Helghast newcomers at Beacon's airship docking platforms, it had been eight years since she last saw him and yet she could tell so much has changed about him.

He looked much taller now for certain, he held himself sort of how the Colonel would, pride was taken in his appearance, he led from the front and did not ever appear afraid of the large crowds, even though she knew he hated having his picture taken by anyone.

If her calculations were correct then they'd arrive in twenty minutes, more than enough time, that's if her team didn't slack around like they usually do in the morning, which they are doing right now in fact.

"Yang hurry up and get dressed!" She hissed at the blonde brawler who was half asleep brushing her hair.

"Take a chill pill Ice Queen, I'm getting there."

Weiss growled as she pulled her boots up, "Stop calling me that."

"What's the rush for anyways Weiss?" Ruby asked as she stretched her arms after getting dressed in her school uniform, "They aren't coming here for a little bit anyways, what's the rush?"

"I want to get a good place to stand that's all." She said lacing her boots ties into bows.

"Or do you want to somehow spy on the Helghast team to get a drop on them for the Festival?" Everyone's favorite bow wearing Faunus suggested.

"It's not that." The Heiress said tightening the other boot laces.

"Then what is it then?" Ruby asked looking at her BFF with confusion.

Weiss's cheeks flushed red for a second, "I just know… someone."

"Someone?" The three girls asked the flustered Heiress.

"It's none of your business, just get dressed!" Weiss said trying to hide her flustered cheeks.

Blake however connected the dots quickly, "Do you know one of the Helghast Weiss?"

While the Helghast were not technically Humans anymore and did look upon the Faunus more favorably then the Humans they still made it clear they thought the Faunus were still beneath them, hence Blake wasn't really a fan of the mysterious and hostile people of Helghan, though personally she never met one she did hear about the stories members of the White Fang and Menagerie naval crews would tell after having a bad run in with the Helghast boarding crews, they did not end well most of the time.

"Well, yes, I do actually, and I'm anxious about meeting him again." She started brushing her hair nervously believing she saw a hair fall out of place, "I mean it's been eight years, a lot has changed."

Yang's eyebrows stood up at the mention of Weiss being anxious, "Oh I see, its your boyfriend coming to town."

"Yang shut up he is not my boyfriend! He's a childhood friend… that's it." The Heiress said puffing her cheeks.

"What's his name?" Ruby asked kicking her feet around as she sat on her bunk bed.

Weiss sighed knowing what was about to come next, "Koza Radec."

The three girls froze and stood or sat deathly silent.

"Radec? Like Colonel Mael, the Butcher, the Hound of Visari, the Devestator, Radec?" Blake said with wide eyes.

"Yeah..."

"Didn't he, you know, kill a lot of…" Ruby seemed to struggle finishing her sentence.

"Huntsmen," Yang finished, "He single handily killed a dozen Huntsmen. Weiss how did you meet this guy or his kid in the first place?"

"His father lead peace negotiations with Helghan and Atlas, for a few years they stayed in Atlas making trade deals and what not. His father isn't really that bad, plus Koza is really nice, trust me. You should've heard what he said on the news just a few minutes ago." She tried to reason to her teammates.

Try as she might, it was hard to say that the son of a man that slaughtered more than a dozen Huntsmen with his bare hands and on top of that nearly conquer all of Vacuo only to be stopped and reined in by his own leader just did not sit well with the three of them, but Weiss claimed that there was more to the Radec's then simple conquest and slaughter.

They'd give her the benefit of the doubt, but it did not mean that they weren't terrified by the prospect of meeting such a man or the people he associated with, you don't just have a chat with the Devil after all.

* * *

Alright, there are some questions to be answered. Slaves of Hate, RWBY The New Blood and many others are not canceled... I'm a busy fucker these days and my inspiration is rather erratic, this is an idea MrGreen my beta reader originally had and wanted to see written, so I added in my own things and I made something I also wanted to make which was a fifth Kingdom type story, the Helghast are basically themselves but with significant changes. Yes they are still the "badguys" we all fell in love with but at this point in time they've cooled down a bit from their initial conception and war, Helghan prospers at a level never before seen in the Killzone games, they were always angry because of the ISA beating them in the Intrastellar wars, this time the Helghasts won but instead of keeping territory they were basically bribed by the four Kingdoms and Menagerie to relinquish the conquered land for an exchange of goods and money. They still have the totalitarian society mentality, but are far more tamed now then they were in the games. Visari is also in his seventies going into eighties now, he was in his fifties during Killzone 1 and 2, his personality is a bit different as you have read, he's less hateful with a hunger for conquest, the old man is winding down now and is preparing to hand over his mantel to his daughter.

This story will take you through some political turmoil between the Helghasts and well everybody, some people want peace with the obviously superior power but a lot of others hate their guts. This will be interesting to toy with.

Have fun, Doomsdayguy12345 out!


	2. Chapter 2

The sky over Vale was somewhat cloudy, threats of rain fall were made with thunder in the distance and the haze of light rain fall casting a shadow over the sea, such a sight was rare in Helghan even though the skies remained grey for the most part, partly from the natural pollution of the island and from the pollution created by Stahl's factories, the Schnee's of Helghan basically.

Though in Koza's mind no one was like Weiss, she was something special in his opinion, even from an ice-cold family like hers he could get a warm reaction from her. She was after all his first friend, the person he trusted deeply, even after the last eight years he would still trust her with his secret passions and thoughts about the world.

Oh, how he wanted to see her, it had been one of the biggest reasons why he was excited to go on this peace mission in the first place, it was after all an odd thing that the son of the most war adept Helghast Colonel would go on a mission for peace, the term itself was not very popular in the Helghast vocabulary, but something about it just seemed so right.

One could say this was a sign of the new generation rectifying the actions of the previous, but of course such a belief would be from someone of the Kingdoms, the Helghast believed they were in the right, their war of vengeance was justice for the actions of the Vale King when he tore down all Mantle had tried to create, that it was justice for the years of chaos and hardship they endured under Man's reign.

So, it was up to the New Man, the Helghast Man to lead not only their own race but the other cousin races into a new future, one their ancestors would've never been able to comprehend. Instead of forcing the ideals of Helghan as originally planned they would instead show them, the many, the genius and efficiency of the Helghast-Manteliean way and show how it would free their nations of the Grimm's tyranny.

Yet Koza knew that his ideals were of utopian design, and Man was not designed for utopia, he was designed for chaos. The struggle to spread Visari's words will no doubt take years to eventually spread across the globe, eventually though, the entire world and its peoples will know the Helghast Triad.

"Loyalty, duty, obedience."

The undeniable pillars of a truly utopian society, the repression of the self is an unpopular concept in the Kingdoms, yet they preach the same concept with the Huntsmen to make them feel heroic. Koza thought it was a rather idiotic thing, if everyone embraced the ideals to feel heroic then they'd be a force to be reckoned with, then again, he guessed, no one would be a hero if everyone was a hero. The Kingdoms were selfish in that regard.

Taking his eyes away from the Bullhead's view he observed his fellow Helghasts objectively.

Sobieski Cobar, he sat on a bench spinning a combat knife in his hand, watching absent mindedly as the blade spun around on his flat gloved palm. He too was a son of a famous warhero or monster depending upon who you asked, his father was an impressive extremist, shot his drill instructor for showing weakness, some would comment he had a wheel barrel to cart around his massive brass balls whenever he went on a march.

During the Menagerie Campaign he assisted General Metrac in counter Faunus insurgent fighting, he was renowned for his brutality to prisoners that withheld information necessary for victory, they were usually either never seen or heard from ever again but the very unlucky ones were tortured in front of other prisoners and left to die on poles in the middle of the camp for all to see.

He laughed at the words "war crime", to the Helghast it was just reduction on resource wasting non-assets, therefor not a crime but strategic reduction. His career was propelled after he killed off a Village Chieftain and some Huntsmen protecting enemy soldiers that were hiding from the occupation forces.

Sobieski himself was unhinged but nowhere near his father, Sobieski could tone down if he thinks a situation calls for it although at times he will need to be reminded about it, over all he was a loyal and trustworthy Helghast patriot and friend. He was more than useful as he was the equivalent to a battering ram for the team.

Eli Gruber, a man with a very special interest in firearms as it seemed, if his collection of weapons he was examining was anything to go by. His father was but a simple Helghast trooper that fought valiantly as a Commando in Vale's thick forests, he didn't rise in status all too much but he earned the attention of Colonel Vyktor Kratek during his campaigns, thus he got better living conditions and a better paycheck.

Eli came from the bottom, a man not to be underestimated, his strength attributed to superior genes and fanatical devotion, hence the tribal style propaganda tattoos on his arms. Being a weapons expert he naturally improved his existing equipment, a very big interest of his was foreign weapons technology he wanted to study, which was why he was the first to sign up for this mission.

Trust would not be an issue, he was an attack dog, an insult in other cultures but to the Helghast being compared to a noble disciplined animal was a compliment, he like Cobar wanted to fight the people of the Kingdoms like a warrior, a soldier, and it seemed his wish would soon be granted.

Now finally, Antoine Stahl.

Lanky, tall, tactical, a damn scientific calculator for his brains. Many had wondered why someone of Antoine's pedigree would bother with the Helghast military when he was born into the wealth and power of the military's supplier of arms, technology, and equipment.

The answer was one that was rather odd, he did not want to be a supplier of death, rather, he wanted to be a man of medicine, a doctor. Jorhan Stahl was not pleased with his son's dream, he had threatened to disown him believing Antoine to be a coward and disgrace to the Stahl name and over all a disgrace to the Helghast Race.

However being natural businessmen they came to an agreement, Antoine would fund his own way through med school by attending Radec Academy to show he was a true Helghast, if he could graduate from the academy then his inheritance would not come into question ever again if he failed then he like any other failure at Radec Academy would die as such a dishonor could not stand.

Unlike most Helghast Antoine was rather timid, his father's verbal and physical abuse along with Jorhan trying to project himself on the boy made him a bundle of nerves at times, he lacked self-esteem which would sometimes hinder his work. Though deep down he loves his father he also hates him for how he has treated his only son, so he had shaved his brown hair down to appear more like his fellow Helghast.

Koza made it his mission to raise his medic's morale, he could not afford to have someone as important as the young Stahl doubting himself in the field. He promised that he'd give him leave to pick apart the library at Beacon by himself, uninterrupted so he could gather information as a relaxing task for him to do.

The young Radec himself had his own problems though, he did after all must keep up the positive peace attitude while leading his team of slightly unhinged men, one foul up could botch the operation so he needed Cobar and Eli on tight leashes. His own father had grand expectations, he was after all supposed to take over the academy when it came time for Radec senior to retire, that was a huge responsibility for him to uptake.

Any interactions with Weiss had to be careful too, anything outside of professional or even friendly could be misinterpreted or rumors of romance could spread, causing much unneeded stress they already had to deal with… though he wished they would have a few moments in each other's company, even though in the limelight a person could get lonely.

Taking the time to stretch his legs the Helghast Captain stood from his seat and explored the ship's interior lazily. Another thing that would bear heavy on his shoulders would be the initial fear the people at school would have around him, his father did personally lead the invasion of Vacuo, he killed well over a dozen Huntsmen but the most famous incident was when he killed a dozen with only his bare hands.

That is what truly horrified them, one man dispatched and destroyed a dozen veteran huntsmen with his bare hands, then under took conquering one of the largest Kingdoms or technically nearly conquering as he had not taken the capital city and slayed its king, before he could a peace deal was brokered between the Kingdoms and Helghan's Empire.

Still, the legend of the Hound of Visari stuck, the name Radec became something parents would tell their children to fear and get their chores done lest the Hound of Visari would come for them. His father did not mind it, in fact, he was flattered by their fear of him as it was very warranted, any less would not serve him justice.

"Something on your mind Koza?"

Hearing his name the Helghast turned to see Ozpin standing behind him by ten feet with his mug and cane handy, "Just killing time Headmaster. I'm somewhat anxious."

"Anxious?"

"Well," Koza chuckled, "it's not often you leave Helghan to go stay at one of the most prestigious schools for the Human-Faunus Kingdoms."

Ozpin nodded taking a sip from his mug, "It's also not often Helghast ever leave Helghast controlled territory."

Koza crossed his arms glancing out the window over the city, "Strange times it seems."

"You don't know how much I appreciate your governments initiative to improve relations," Ozpin said sharing Koza's view of the city, "Not many understand your people, to them you are almost fairytale monsters, but that is not true is it?"

The Helghast furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"

"Most of the populace knows Helghan only through horror stories told by distraught survivors of a long since passed war." Ozpin said looking at the slightly taller boy, "A lot changes over the years as you know. They don't understand your side of the war, your reasons, your beliefs. I believe this is a great opportunity to heal still sore open wounds."

"Yes, yes I intend to tell our side when it comes up." Koza said as his mind pictured Vale burning for a few seconds, "Though I know from my own people, prejudices are hard to kill, no one in the world is without them after all."

"Very true." A beeping in Ozpin's pocket alerted him that they were closing in on his academy even though he could see it plainly without the reminder, "We are docking."

The view of a castle was a marvelous one, it was a beautiful building but it was rather insignificant compared to his father's academy, then again nearly a thousand Helghast attended the school, there were also mini biomes constructed to simulate battlefields for them to practice with, so that they can be proficient on the battlefield.

He however could not see who exactly was below at the docks, but he still had his hopes up that he would see Weiss soon enough.

* * *

Down below the airship…

Weiss looked up at the descending airship with frightening anxiety, her heart was beating like a war drum, a light bead of sweat started to form around her hairline, one she patted away with a handkerchief. Her breath caught as passenger door opened with the Headmaster and Vice Headmistress being the first to depart the ship.

Followed by four figures clad in black and crimson.

"Woah." Weiss whispered as she figured out which one was her old childhood friend, he always wore a red tunic on the outside of his uniform to set himself out from his father as they had practically the same uniform with several minor differences, such as Koza not having as large shoulder pads or flowing robe like-cloth his father would sometimes have.

He had defiantly gotten much taller, their conversations would consist of him looking down at her more than likely, her mind wanted to move forward but her legs were stone, breathing was a distant thought as the crimson eyepieces met her blue orbs, for a moment all the world was nothing more than an illusion.

* * *

A minute prior after leaving the airship…

"This place seems rather nice." Antoine said as he looked around the school's vacant courtyard.

Eli and Sobieski made minor observations but over all looked rather unimpressed with the school, then again nothing here would really impress the Helghast Nationalists, to them everything outside of Helghan was by default inferior to their great nation and its people, they may not have been alive during the early years of Helghan but they still held a prejudice of hate towards Vale itself since it was their King that damned their ancestors to die and had even believed it for awhile.

How wrong he was.

Koza himself was able to admire the scenery with an amount of reservation for his nationalist beliefs, it was his way of trying to appear non-biased for peace relations between peoples, it certainly was a large difference from the darker and more industrial architecture, somewhat refreshing even for his eyes.

Though there was something far more pleasing to his eyes not more than a few meters from him, his heart thumped in a rhythm that nearly made his head light, snow white hair and bright blue eyes, porcelain skin clothed in a dress of white with tiny bits of red.

The years, Koza would say had been very kind to Weiss, she looked utterly remarkable to him, though comically, she still seemed to be much shorter as per usual then again, most Humans were below average height for the Helghast.

Before he could make a fool of himself Antoine bumped his shoulder, "Koza they are leaving down the ramp right now."

The Helghast Captain looked for his teammates and the Beacon administrators, apparently, they were already doing a mini-tour without him and Antoine.

"Let's catch up." Koza said breaking out into a light jog with Antoine trailing him.

* * *

The Schnee heiress sighed with a small smile on her face, he remembered her from their days together in Atlas, not a word has been shared between them since the day he returned to Helghan as the Helghast were not interested in having a communications tower with the other Kingdoms, well, at least at that time they were not interested.

"Did we miss them?" The ever-excitable leader of team RWBY asked nearly scaring Weiss to death with her sudden appearance.

"Geez! Yeah, kinda, they went off with the Headmaster and Goodwitch. That way." Weiss said pointing in the direction the party of Helghast and the Beacon leadership.

"Oh, hey guys!" Ruby called towards the rest of her team and team JNPR, "They went that way! C'mon Weiss, lets catch up!"

The heiress's eyes nearly popped out of her skull seeing her awkward and sometimes annoying group of friends holding some signs of 'Welcome to Beacon' 'Welcome to Vale'

"W-what are they doing here!?" Weiss asked feeling like she was about to have a stroke.

Ruby turned back to Weiss with a big grin on her face, "Well since you have a Helghast friend I thought we could also be friends with him and his teammates, the signs are to help lighten the mood and make them feel welcomed. What do you think?"

Weiss's eye twitched before she facepalmed, "Ruby, ugh, you're killing me with that innocent look on your face. Can you tell them to hold off? I-I kind of want to greet Koza and the others myself, it's kind of a personal thing."

Ruby stood for a few seconds contemplating and nodded, "Okay, but we're still giving them a welcoming party."

"Thanks Ruby, I'll be back at the dorm later!" Weiss said as she broke off in a sprint for the Helghast students and Beacon Professors.

Ruby bolted over to her friends in a flurry of rose petals, "Hey guys we got to hold off for a sec."

The group looked at the short scythe wielder with confusion as they lowered their signs.

"But why?" Nora asked scratching the back of her head, inadvertently hitting Jaune in the head with her sign, "Sorry Jaune!"

"Weiss said she wanted to meet them on her own first because its personal for her."

"Personal?" Pyrrha asked furrowing her brow, "Does Weiss know one of the Helghast?"

Ruby tapped her index fingers together nervously with a light bit of sweat on her brow, "Yeah… she does."

"Who does she know then?" Ren asked with his ever-neutral expression.

The members of JNPR noticed that their friends from across the hall seemed somewhat nervous about the nature of the question.

Blake however, was able to answer the question first, "She knows Colonel Radec's son."

Like the flip of a coin the general happy go lucky team stood in absolute silence as they stared with deathly expressions at the very mention of the name Radec.

"THE Colonel Radec!?" Jaune exclaimed with the kind of fear you'd expect from someone with a phobic level of terror.

"Yeah… that Radec." Yang said inadvertently shaking in a short jitter, the name gave her chills as the stories told about the malevolent warrior send images of death and destruction into her mind.

Pyrrha even seemed to be highly uncomfortable at the reveal even with her status as a champion, "I've heard… many stories about the Hound of Visari and his… his deeds."

"He's like really scary, almost White Death scary." Nora said shaking like a leaf.

"And his son is going to school here!? With us!?" Jaune exclaimed with his hands flat against the temples of his head.

"Guys calm down," Ruby said attempting to calm the situation, "she said Koza was a nice guy."

"When was the last time she saw him?" Pyrrha asked.

Blake crossed her arms looking in the direction the heiress went, "She said eight years ago."

"A lot changes in eight years," Ren said with a somewhat grim look on his face, "Who's to say he hasn't changed to be more like his father?"

"Well that is a good point," Ruby said adopting a more determined look, "but all we are doing is assuming the worst, and it doesn't really seem fair to them. I mean everyone else is probably assuming the same thing about them, it's really racist now that I think about it."

That seemed to make everyone uncomfortable, but in a way, she was right, the Helghast Race was portrayed as a violent and malevolent people, yet all they knew about the Helghast they learned from stories told from everyone else's but the Helghast perspective and even then it was about their army not the people back home on Helghan.

Blake herself felt the worst about it, to think, her whole life she had been fighting for equality and respect but her she was being no better than a Human bigoted against the Faunus. She at least could hide her Faunus traits, whereas it would be impossible for a Helghast to do what she did on a daily basis. A wave of shame fell over her, she had let herself fall prey to the very thing she wanted to rid the world of.

"So how about we all try to give Koza and his friends the benefit of the doubt and treat them like everyone else." Ruby said with her usual cheery expression that seemed to raise everyone's spirits.

Her friends nodded in agreement with Ruby's words, while they were still very intimidated by the stories they were told as children they took an initiative to try and make the Helghast visitors feel welcome to the academy and hopefully start up a long-lasting friendship with the foreigners.

Or in the very least not piss them off.

* * *

"Here is our Dining Hall, three square meals a day are served here but students could also buy snacks at their leisure." Ozpin explained as he showed his new Helghast students around the large dining room.

"I've heard stories of Mistralian food being quite hot, is that true?" Sobieski asked from behind the Headmaster.

"Yes, it can be quite the tongue burner depending upon what kind you get."

"Awe sweet, hey Gruber, want to do a contest of who can handle their spice?" The young Cobar asked the Commando.

Eli bumped fists with Cobar, "You're on Snowman."

Professor Goodwitch rolled her eyes thinking to herself, 'Men are the same in every race I guess.'

"Cobar and Gruber nearly got themselves shot for doing stupid things like their food challenges in Helghan." Antoine mentioned glancing back at the two meat heads doing a fist bump secret handshake, "The government does not appreciate wasting of food."

"Even after all these years they are still doing the calorie plan?" Ozpin asked in legitimate surprise, "Even with the way Helghan prospers?"

"Calorie plan?" Professor Goodwitch asked not knowing much about Helghast legislation.

"The Calorie Plan was a method used by the Helghast government to calculate the calories an average man, woman, and child needed then applied the calculations to the family size to determine what sort of rations that family would get," Koza said, "However the structure is more relaxed as people can now afford to buy extra food out of their own pocket but the cards themselves are prepaid and approved for until they've been used or are outdated."

"This plan fed several generations Professor," Antoine explained, "food is still however a precious resource to the Helghast, some can digest certain foods depending upon which generation they are."

"Most of the times us on the poorer side just redeem our cards for flavored nutrient paste, anyone could eat it, it's easier to clean up with no dishes." Eli said as he pulled out a Helghast nutrient paste MRE bag and held it out to the professors.

Ozpin adjusted his glasses slightly, "My Helghast is a bit rusty but I do believe this is beef stew flavored."

"My favorite kind sir." Eli said as he packed the food away in his bag.

Professor Goodwitch was somewhat horrified at the fact that the Helghast Government had the power to regulate how much its citizens could eat for a week, it was just unnerving to her that such a thing was allowed to happen in the world with no way of stopping it just short of an all out world war that didn't guarantee a victory, what was worse is that it seemed like the boys were perfectly fine with it.

"The program keeps us fed well enough and encourages physical fitness for the army." Cobar mentioned as he flexed to impress himself, "Oh I can't wait to punch someone's lights out!"

"I can tell," Ozpin said as the white themed Helghast shamelessly kept on flexing, "but you four won't start classes until tomorrow."

"Headmaster may I ask something sir?" Koza asked from behind.

Ozpin raised a brow but nodded, "You may."

"I was hoping," He said raising his hand slightly, "not to insult you or Professor Goodwitch, to end this tour early. I'm sure there are many interesting things for us to see but I believe the weeklong trip that it took to get here has worn out my squad greatly and it would be nice to relax without rocking around on a metal boat."

"I see," Ozpin said narrowing his eyes slightly at Koza knowing the Helghast boy wasn't being entirely honest with him, "in that case I will give you four the scrolls you need to open your dorm room then, would you like us to show you to your dorm?"

Eli, Sobieski, and Antoine nodded no, "We'll find it with the scroll's GPS, besides, it will give us time to stretch our legs."

"If you say so." Ozpin said warningly as he handed the Helghast their own scrolls, "Have a good day, and please, try not to cause trouble."

Sobieski and Eli chuckled darkly looking away from the Headmaster, however two slaps upside the head from Koza made them grumble and cross their arms, "I'll make sure to have their leashes extra tight."

As the Beacon Administrators warningly left the four Helghast outsiders to explore their academy alone, they honestly shouldn't leave them alone just yet but babysitting them the whole time was not really going to help them either as they were supposed to make friends on their own but however them getting in a confrontation was also likely, but Koza did say he was going to watch his more radical teammates.

"Lads," Koza said to his squad, "go to the dorm without causing any trouble, you are adults damnit so don't make have to watch you like children or I will beat you like children."

"Where are you going?" Antoine asked with the same level of confusion as Eli and Sobieski.

Koza stared at them with his unreadable crimson eyepieces, "I'm going to meet an old friend, do not make me regret giving you this freedom, Antoine you do the talking for these two idiots. No arguing."

Without another word Koza activated his cloaking and disappeared, no doubt using the short-ranged teleporter in his suit as well, leaving his squad somewhat baffled.

"The fock?" Sobieski asked knifehanding at the spot Koza once occupied, "Wot focking friend is this asshole talking about?"

Eli shrugged but Antoine seemed to contemplate what Koza said, "I believe he said something a while back about meeting someone from the Schnee family, I don't know who though."

"Whatever, let's just get to the focking dorm, I want to get these bloody boots off and catch some Zzzs." Sobieski said waving off at the space Koza once inhabited with a bitchy tone in his voice.

* * *

Weiss peaked her head around a corner surprised to see the Helghast leaving without Koza, just where had he disappeared to?

Unbenounced to the heiress the air behind her shimmered and the Helghast clad in a crimson tunic reached out with his hand, "Boo!"

"Ahh!" Weiss jumped to see Koza laughing at her behind his enigmatic mask, "Koza!"

The Helghast crossed his arms looking down at her, "You were always easy to sneak up on my lady Schnee."

She puffed her cheeks crossing her arms and promptly turned her head away from him giving a, "Hmph!" in a pout.

"You always did cheat in hide and seek." She said with closed eyes and with a snobby attitude.

"It's because I knew it pissed you off." Koza said clicking a button on his helmet to reveal his eyes and lower bridge of his nose.

Weiss peaked with one eye but then closed it again, "That is no excuse. I am never speaking to you ever again!"

For a good five seconds Koza stared down at the heiress as her pouting façade start to break down with a small smile forming on the heiress's face, she turned her head around fully to get a good look at Koza, she held her hand out with her fingers pointing downwards like someone of royal birth would do.

Koza took a step forward with his right foot, bent forward halfway taking her hand in his right hand gently with his left arm across his back, he brought her knuckles up to his respirator and tapped her with the bridge of his mask.

"I missed you, you know?" He said gently letting her hand slip from his grasp.

Weiss looked up at him and without warning wrapped him in a constrictive hug, "I missed you too."

Koza wrapped an arm around her back and squeezed her close as his right hand gently held the back of her head in his palm, neither said a word for a few moments as they just enjoyed each other's presence, letting the veneer of their roles in society and government wash off, the criticisms and the possibilities of controversy null themselves out of existence.

To them they were the only two people in the world.

They separated for a second, tears welled in the heiress's eyes but she wiped them away with a handkerchief sniffling slightly.

"Your hair is very white." Koza said smirking behind his respirator.

Weiss smiled weakly looking up at the Helghast that just noticed something new about Weiss's complexion, "You've got a scar now?"

Immediately her hand shot up to the scar over her eye but his right hand brushed her own away, her eyes closed as he gently ran his fingers down her scar, "You look beautiful, like a warrior."

She slipped her hand around his right hand, pulling it down to her waist. The heiress reached up to his mask, touching the sides of his helmet, fully deactivating it and with a light tug she pulled it off his head, letting it dangle by a breathing tube off to the side.

Koza ran his left hand through his slightly sweaty dark-brown hair, molding it to go towards the left, dark green eyes met icy ocean blue as their world seemed to get smaller and smaller.

"Koz-" Weiss whispered as their lips met in a passionate fury, tugging and pulling as the air and time around them seemingly faded away.

* * *

The Headmaster of Beacon sat behind his desk with a holographic computer screen right in front of him, tapping on its keypad a few times, suddenly a red background with the Helghast Triad appeared, he waited a few seconds as the video feed was buffering between nations across the metaphorical pond.

Colonel Mael Radec appeared sitting behind his desk in his somewhat spartan-like office, "Headmaster Ozpin, how do you do?"

"I am fine Colonel Radec, your son and his squad arrived with little to no issues." The esteemed Headmaster said in a professional manner.

"I see, that is good, are they adjusting well to their change in scenery?"

"So far, they are adjusting well, though your son did ask to end the tour early so his men could relax and explore the academy at their leisure, I suspect however he has ulterior motives." Ozpin said cryptically.

The Colonel grumbled leaning back in his chair, "That Schnee girl goes to your school, right?"

Ozpin nodded, "Weiss Schnee does attend my school."

Colonel Radec grunted crossing his arms, "That boy was rather fond of the Schnee girl, it broke his little heart having to leave. I have nothing against the girl but her father is a lousy weasel."

"Jacques Schnee is far from my favorite person as well." Ozpin agreed.

"I could only stay in that damn mansion for so long without killing him in his sleep, its' almost like a ghost town in that awful place. I bet I would've never met him as a soldier, he's too much of a worm for such an honorable position." The Colonel said with much distain in his voice, "I do miss the old days though, such a shame they ended so quickly, it was easier to wage war instead of speaking to rodents."

Ozpin narrowed his as he deciphered Radec's tone, "But those days are in the past where they will hopefully stay."

Colonel Radec seemed to roll his eyes, "You Kingdom Huntsmen take things too personally, what is wrong with warriors killing warriors?"

"You know damn well that's not all who are killed," Ozpin said in a low warning tone, "What Cobar and Metrac did was atrocious."

"That I admit." Radec said nodding, "I expected better from them but they are the more radical purists of the Helghast Race. I admit to executing prisoners but that was merely to lessen constraint on resources that were thin enough as it is. I'd rather had killed them as soldiers."

"That doesn't make it right in anyway." Ozpin said with a disapproving look on his face.

Radec sighed seemingly rolling his eyes again, a small chuckle escaped him as he looked at the screen, "I expected you to say that, ever the compassionate and moral man. Well you have my word that our children are not photocopies of their fathers, though they do indulge in similar traits. I'll speak to you later, I have a class to teach, until next time, Ozpin."

As the video cut out the Headmaster of Beacon sat back in his chair contemplating Colonel Radec's words, when he had first met the Colonel years ago it was only a year since Radec Academy was established and the Helghast took the first steps towards peace by making a Helghast Huntsmen Academy. They met as headmasters instead of as enemies, he could tell at that point the Helghast Colonel was not exactly pleased with his conquest of Vacuo being cut short with the war ending.

Even now he hadn't shown much of a change, Koza seemed to be a stark contrast between him and his father, Mael was more of a warhawk whereas Koza was a dove, yet he had a belief that Koza was not above diving headfirst into violence if someone did challenge Helghan's rule or its safety in anyway, though he did thankfully seem far more tame than his father.

* * *

And here we are with chapter two and already obvious shipping is obvious, I have oddly yet to come up with a name for the shipping as well, fuck. As a small update for all a new V2 DKRWBY chapter is in the works as is a Skulls and Roses n' Friends long smut oneshot for the main Imperial pairings and maybe even a crack pairing as well, maybe more if I get inspiration or ideas, I'm making it long (and hard) so it is a one time only deal, unless you've been good this year, back on topic though: the Calorie Plan was a small insight into the world of Helghan on Remnant, as Helghast soil is highly toxic it is smart to assume most food comes from trade or they have to synthesize it or grow it in special biodomes, point being food is still a very valuable thing to the Helghast people. Questions of what my interpretation of Radec Academy in Remnant will be explained but Antoine did mention Eli and Sobieski were almost shot for their food contest, meaning being shot in school by teachers is a very real possibility.

Well, that's all for now, we'll see what gets published next, as always have a good day.

Doomsdayguy12345 out!


	3. Chapter 3

Helghast Emergence War, Vacuo Southern Theater...

Black clouds darkened a once open sky, a burning forest around a village in despair showed through the blackness in a furious red glow, as if apocalyptic devastation was upon the poor Vacuoan village. One would say in a way that was not far from the truth, in an unexpected show of might, the wrath of a nation, one of near Godlike power had been unleashed without so much as a forewarning to the utter annihilation it would wreak.

Then again, who'd think any less of Helghast nation?

Civilians scrambled left and right in the hellish chaos, doing their very best to avoid the indiscriminate muzzle flashes coming from the foresty inferno as infantry followed behind tanks with mounted flamethrowers, the Vacuoan militia could do very little against the vastly superior weapons held in the hands of a professional army that showed no restraint in their fighting.

Their rules of war, their rules of engagement were simply brushed aside by the Helghast infantry that advanced ever so slowly like a taunting dagger being shoved through at a snail's pace, taking great care in holding down the unwilling subject of their anger, taking pleasure in their despair and torment.

Buildings crumbled as flames ravaged their wooden structures, wood turned to ash and steel turned into liquid, rolling treads tore up the brick walkways, gardens ignited into bonfires for but a whisper, leaving only blackened hard soil in their wake. Homes were burned, school houses torn asunder, people lied mangled.

Hope was grasping on by a thread.

A Helghast trooper planted his foot on a militia man's back as he tried to crawl, the Human breathed raggedly as the added weight strained his ribs against brick and stone, his spine and tendons whined as they were being pushed to a breaking point.

"Please," The Human whimpered with a trembling lip, burning tears rolling down his soot covered cheeks as a light trail of mucus poured onto his lip, "please!"

The Helghast regarded the brown-haired Human with a snort, it was pathetic that a warrior was begging like this, moving the barrel of his assault rifle by an inch he grinned as the man's pupils dilated in stark fear, with a small squeeze of the trigger the Human's face ceased to be anything worth looking at.

Militia men started retreating as tank cannons roared, their cover becoming little more than smoldering craters, some had the fool hardly belief in that they were interested in taking prisoners, they just died with without a means to go down with honor, instead they died begging and mewling for non-existent mercy believing that the Helghast had some sort of definition of the word in the first place.

Some Helghast troopers had forced several injured Militia men against a wall, fresh wounds along their shoulders and arms bled liberally as they leaned against the wall, ash covered faces stared forward with despair as they saw what remained of their once proud prosperous village light up in hungry all-consuming flames, the fires burned as angrily as the eye pieces of their merciless executioners.

However, they were unable to get a shot off as a pink blur passed behind the Helghast and in a flash their heads fell from their shoulders, blood squirted like sprinklers from the sudden decapitation, covering the stunned Militia men as a small surge of hope made its way into their hearts and minds at their new reinforcements.

The Huntsmen arrived.

Their savior stood flicking blood off of her katana, standing just slightly shorter than the rest of them with a bit more youthful features than the weathered ragtag soldiers wearing a bright red and pink Hitatare robe with armor upon her shoulders, "Go! We'll keep you guys covered!"

Needing no other word from the young Huntress the Militia men ran as fast as they could with what remained of fleeing townsfolk, whatever bravery they had before being no longer present in the wake of utter annihilation at the hands of the Helghast invaders.

She could not blame them, if not for her training the sights and sounds of the battle would've most certainly sent the young Huntress fleeing from the battlefield, the Grimm could not have been any more destructive as the Helghast but they were at least predictable whereas the Helghast had a very Humanlike intelligence capable of far worst atrocities than the near mindless dark monsters.

Soft brown eyes took in the smoldering corpses of buildings meant for commerce and livelihood crumble under their own weight, dozens of corpses littered the street; Militia, men, women… children, unarmed, posing no threat at all to the monstrous beasts in gas masks.

Tears of anger, pain, sheer outrage wanted to pour out in a stinging fury, but with a few deep breathes the young woman's breathing was brought back into line, her hands gripped the katana tightly as a fireteam of Helghast spotted her, they raised their arms, but hesitated behind their sights for a second before leveling their front sight posts.

Behind the young Huntress stood a dozen more Huntsmen with swords, shields, spears, bows, and even a warhammer. They stood firm with righteous fury, poised to reap vengeance down upon the villainous Helghast forces for their trespasses against the people of Vacuo, for their senseless slaughter of unarmed defenseless civilians with no restraint.

Without so much of a battlecry the woman dashed forward bisecting an officer at his waist, slashing through the upper receiver of a rifle into the eye pieces of a reacting trooper following through in a single strike decapitating the man behind the first trooper as if his neck was made of butter.

Several arrows struck into two Heavy Troopers, sending the men backwards with two arrows planted in their eyepieces to make sure they stayed down. The man with a warhammer leapt unto a tank and smashed its cannon into an unusable angle, effectively disabling it, from a satchel he pulled out a Dust grenade, he kicked open the hatch and threw the grenade in, swiftly he jumped off as the tank exploded.

A Helghast trooper was bashed with a shield, being flung into a tree that crumbled from his force, no doubt killing him in the process, the shield and sword wielding Huntsman charged forward with four others that used his same equipment, their shields repelled a hailstorm of bullets as they closed the distance with another Helghast fireteam.

They broke formation after smashing into the riflemen, in swift motions they broke bones, rendered limbs from bodies and crushed gas masked faces with hits from the edges of their hearth shields. One impaled a Helghast with his sword, angling his wrist upwards the sword cut right through the collarbone and was brought right back down dividing the Helghast's head and neck down the middle.

A Spearman stabbed a Helghast through his heart, another Helghast flanked with a knife aimed for the Kidneys but he did not anticipate the Huntsman pressing a button that allowed his weapon to split apart with a near invisible thin fiber wire being the thing that connected the spearhead and shaft, the trooper had the misfortune of stepping right into the wire, the Huntsman raised his weapon slightly getting the Helghast's head caught between the wire and tugged hard, decapitating the trooper with ease. Pressing the button again and the spearhead retracted back to the spear with its previous host being flung to the ground.

During the battle three tanks had fell back towards the original entry from the forest and fire several rounds into the fray. One of the sword and shield using Huntsman was flung into a building from a direct round but fell to his knees as his blue Aura flared, several Helghast flew in pieces as a round struck them after the initial Huntsmen targets dashed away.

Though they had killed some Helghast they were still horribly outnumbered and outgunned, the fact made evident as Helghast troopers flanked from the sides and forced the Huntsmen to go on the retreat into a roofless building, surrounded by a now more serious force of Helghast, flames and rounds keeping them in the ravaged building.

It however made no sense to the young Huntress Swordswoman, the Helghast could have overran them by now but they were just herding them into the building.

"Camellia!" One of the young male swordsmen called wearing a Sallet helmet, "Why aren't they rushing us?"

Almost at the drop of a dime the gunfire stopped and an eerily silence had set in, the young Huntsmen and Huntresses peaked out slowly to see the Helghast soldiers had surrounded them, all of them in a low rest position, the tanks looked poised to bombard the building yet their commanders stood halfway out of the hatches.

Camellia's heart thumped in her chest violently as her eyes scanned the stoic soldiers that threatened to end their existence, her head snapped towards several of them parting from their formation as the tallest Helghast she had ever seen walk past them with his hands behind his back, a meek officer followed after the titanic man with fearful body language, as soon as they passed the soldiers filled the gap once more.

His uniform and armor was unique to the Huntsmen and Huntresses, they had never seen someone looking so ornate yet powerful from the Helghast until now, questions buzzed in their minds as the man stood not more than twenty feet from their building.

The large Helghast cocked his head at the battlefield, from burning buildings to the corpses on the ground. Strangely enough he knelt next to the corpse of a woman with no doubt what remained of a child she had held in her arms while being gunned down by Helghast weapons.

His large gloved hand moved the dead woman's cowl, Camellia saw him lift her slightly to see the child, gently he set the woman down over her child, his fingers lingering on her head for a few seconds before he stood back up to his full height. Surprisingly to the Vacuoan Huntsmen and Huntresses he suddenly grabbed the Officer and forced him down to the ground, making him look at the woman and child.

She shivered as his serpentlike voice hissed loud enough for everyone to hear, "I specifically said no civilians Reinhal, yet what do we have here?"

"S-sir-" The Helghast Officer choked pulling at the massive hand holding him.

"Were they given the day to evacuate their non-combatants!?" The Helghast demanded lifting his own man into the air with one arm.

The Officer was unable to reply as he choked in the tall man's grip, his legs trembling rapidly, his hands scratching at the gloved hand in desperation, "You dare not follow my orders to the letter, besmirch my name with the blood of non-combatants? War is for warriors, warriors follow orders!"

A loud crack was heard and the Officer's limbs fell limp, his head cocked to the left, the large Helghast growled lowly dropping the corpse to the ground, he turned his back to the Huntsmen and spoke to the Helghast soldiers, "I am beyond disappointed! We are not goddamn savages! We are the warriors of Helghan! We fight with honor and courage! There is no honor killing people that cannot fight back and most certainly no courage, YOU WILL FOLLOW MY EVERY ORDER OR I WILL CALL FOR AN OBLITERATION!"

Cameilla's eyes widened at the Helghast man, he was threatening the whole force for defying his orders on civilian casualties, he went as far as to berate them in front of their enemies with the ever-looming threat of "obliteration", whatever that meant to them in the context he used.

She didn't know what was scarier, the army itself, the man, or the fact that they all bowed their heads to him with their left arms stuck out in a salute.

"DO YOU GET ME!?" He demanded in a roar.

"YES, COLONEL RADEC, WE GET YOU SIR!" They replied raising their heads back to eye level.

"Colonel Radec?" Cameilla tested to herself, the name was unknown to her, yet she gathered that this man was no measly push over. His uniform was the most unique one that she had ever seen, the way he carried himself was full of confidence and strength, his voice sent a shiver down her spine, her hair stood up on the back of her neck, whenever he shouted it was like thunder clapping in a furious applause.

Her breath hitched as he snapped right back around, it seemed as through his eyepieces were burning through her like two hot red coals.

"I would like to formally apologize on behalf my men for this…" He looked around the village then down at the unarmed corpses, "massive tragedy. It was my intention to allow your leaders to evacuate your people, and allow us warriors to meet on the battlefield, with honor. Evidently I should have given the message out myself."

The Huntsmen were frozen, in fear, in confusion, reality seems to have left them, their software was currently not processing the information being given to it as it seemed one of the strangest things has happened to them. Their enemy, just apologized to them, for doing what they expected from them, strange times it seems.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself," Pressing his fingers against the side of his mask it opened up slightly showing the upper half of his face, "I am Colonel Mael Radec, my leader, my Autarch, has tasked me with taking over your Kingdom. This is a task I will complete for him."

Cameilla glared at the man, whipping up the bravest face she had, "We will stop you."

The Colonel eyed the Huntress, looking her up and down, "Is that so, woman?"

Her grip tightened around her sheathed katana, barely pushing it off of the scabbard in a threatening gesture, one which earned her the attention of every front sight post surrounding her, but the Huntress stood firm, holding the Colonel's stare.

Radec raised his hand to his men, "Lower your damn weapons. Very well then, I propose a deal. For compensation for the loss of life here, you can leave with peace, only if you can kill me of course."

The Huntress saw his eyes narrow, if she could guess it, he had a confident grin on his face. He wants them to fight him, but could they really take this man on? Was his word worth anything? Take away the army surrounding them it would be twelve Huntsmen and Huntresses versus one physically and psychology imposing man they knew nothing about.

While they are Huntsmen and Huntresses they are far from veterans, most of them like herself just graduated so they could join the war effort. Though he claimed to fight by himself the fact that he was not only a colonel but one the Autarch tasked with taking Vacuo made her weigh the pros and cons of the fight.

Pro, they outnumbered him. Con, they didn't know anything about him. Pro, they could cut the head off of the snake. Con, they could die. Pro, they'd die if they didn't fight him, they might at least do something good with their deaths and slow him down or at least injure him.

Two sword and shield using Huntsmen flanked her sides, three archers took positions along broken concrete barriers with arrows notched, swords and spearmen went out further to try and cover Radec in a crescent formation, to prevent him from escaping the fight if it didn't go his way.

The tall Huntsman with the Warhammer leapt out from behind the group in an overhead strike, with the intention to end the fight as quickly as possible with a debilitating strike meant to kill the Colonel, yet the Helghast dashed out of the fatal strikes range at the last moment, taking advantage of the over exerted Huntsmen with a swift knee into his face, sending the large man flying back thirty feet, sliding to a halt right before Cameilla.

Her eyes widened as the man's Aura flickered in static fluctuations, the strike Radec delivered nearly killed the Huntsman in one hit. The Colonel stood as he did before with his hands behind his back, a thick air seemed to gather around the man, his smugness was evident from the way he stood with a relatively calm demeanor.

Three arrows screamed flying at him, yet in a flash of movements that made Cameilla's heart skip several beats out of pure horror, he caught each arrow, almost like he anticipated where they were going, then in swift almost blink of the eye he threw each arrow back at the respective archers, striking all of them in their chests, taking large chunks of Aura.

"Come now!" He bellowed holding his arms out, "tell me you can do better than that!"

One of the shieldmen charged with a broadsword raised, he roared slashing in a wild frenzy at the Helghast Colonel, a lesser man would've caught one or two strikes, yet Radec was backpedaling ever so slowly, showing great restraint and skill whilst humiliating and exhausting the desperate warrior in front of him.

Though the good Colonel tired of the charade. Like lighting he grabbed the knight by his sword arm with his right hand and struck with his left fist right into the solar plexus of the warrior, taking the wind from his lungs, in a swift motion he snapped the man's arm in half at his now dented armored joint.

He let the knight fall to his knees screaming in silent breathless agony, on the verge of unconsciousness, he balled both fists and slammed them both into the knight's back, pulverizing his ribs into shards of bone, tearing apart his insides in an extreme show of strength. Roughly he grabbed the limp knight by the nape of his neck and tossed him in the air with minimal strength, punching him right in his armored face as he dropped down.

Violently the knight's corpse smashed into the devastated building, breaking chunks of the structure but falling limp onto the ground, a fist shaped dent on his bloody masked forehead.

Fear, fear unlike any other crept through the Huntsmen, the Colonel was so much stronger than they anticipated, strong enough to where Auras broke after a few hits, he was just unnatural to them, were they dealing with a man or a God?

He cracked his knuckles in two thunderous booms, his red lenses seemed to glow brighter, the Helghast soldiers and armor began to back up slowly, their fears of Radec striking them on accident was evident, whatever he had planned would apparently massive amounts of devastation in the attack's wake.

The Warhammer wielding Huntsman propped himself up with the help of his Warhammer's shaft, he readied his weapon, raising it in a weaker stance than that he had held before he was struck by the Helghast Colonel, his face was contorted in pan but he still held his guard now that he better understands just what he was exactly going up against.

"If you will not face me on your own accord," Radec growled as his stance took a far more aggressive stance, sliding his right foot backwards grinding through blackened soil, his shoulders set leaning on his left, oddly though, the most unnerving thing thus far was that he seemed to flicker like a video with terrible reception, "then don't mind if I take the lead!"

Before Cameilla could even release a breath the large Helghast phased out of existence and reappeared punching through the Warhammer wielding Huntsman, said Huntsmen barely had a chance to gasp as Radec disappeared again, leaving a large hole right where the Huntsman's heart was.

The Colonel reappeared between the archers and delivered a devastating kick from behind a man that snapped him like a match, an elbow connected with the face of a second archer, snapping his neck and shattering his face into a spray of blood and bone dust, the third received no mercy as a large fist smashed own on his helmeted head. His head had been compressed into his shoulders in an unnatural way as the man's collar bone turned into fragments underneath straining, tearing skin.

A swordsman was lucky enough to just barely avoid getting struck by a blow from the teleporting terror, he managed to get a few slices to the air out before the end came in the form of the Colonel uppercutting him into the air, only the Helghast caught the man by the foot and used him to smash the shield of the last sword and shield user, the strike was enough to stagger the man and left him open for the Helghast to strike his heel into the man's sternum, killing him as his heart simply caved in from the incredible pressure.

Two more swordsmen dashed from opposite sides on Radec's flanks, trying their best to catch him in a pinch, but to their misfortune he raised his armed forearms and their blades broke like flimsy glass, his hands grabbed them both by the throat and in a quick flick of his wrists snapped both of their necks.

Camellia steeled herself as the glowing red eyepieces locked onto her and the spearman, she unsheathed her katana keeping her eyes leveled on the body language of the Colonel, he didn't fool her when he relaxed his posture akin to how he initially addressed them, though she noted that it seemed to be far more antagonistic, almost like he was glaring at them with his whole body.

"I hope you two will provide a better challenge, otherwise I'd start believing the stories of you Huntsmen are greatly exaggerated." He mocked with both hands behind his back, taking one cautious step every third second as time dragged on, daring them to take the first step.

The Spearman shot his retractable spearhead at Colonel Radec, as the Helghast man dodged it the Spearman swung the shaft of his weapon to the right which made the cord shift down the line as well, the trick was to try and get the Helghast caught in the line like the previous men he decapitated and hopefully put an end to the massive demonic man.

However, the Colonel reacted fast enough and grabbed the line and tugged with enough strength to bring the Spearman sailing towards with wide terrified eyes, eyes that promptly ceased to exist as a size seventeen boot collided with his face, clotheslining the man's body and compressing his face into his own head as bone turned to dust.

"I have the feeling I'm not dealing with true Huntsmen," Mael Radec said with immense dissatisfaction, "you are too young to be what I was looking for, your Auras, weak, your forms are all sloppy! Truly disappointing. No honor at all, shameful."

Camellia felt burning hatred building up inside of her soul, his army destroys a village, murder dozens of innocent good people, he personally murders all of her friends, and yet, he has the audacity to lecture her about honor!? About not being good enough to face him!

Gritting her teeth, Camellia readied herself as the Colonel looked her up and down.

"They must be desperate," The Colonel reasoned, "sending premature Huntsmen and women out to fight me. I'm tempted just to let you go. War is no place for a woman."

Camellia glared hotly at Colonel Radec, though she was offended by what he said she was not going to allow herself to be distracted by this monster, she was no longer going to let him intimidate her, death was no longer something she feared, it was just a fact now, and if she was going to die then she will at least cut him and prove him wrong.

Radec chuckled dryly balling his fists, "I admire your stubborn silence, but let's get this over with."

Time slowed down as Camellia's breath grew heavy, utilizing her Huntress training she concentrated on her Aura and activated her Semblance, this time the Helghast was moving fast enough for her to react to as he dashed forward with the intent of crushing her with an overhead strike with his right arm.

The Huntress grunted as the immense force from Radec's hit sent her sliding back on her heels, Radec stared in shock as someone was finally able to block his attack without being seriously injured, he pushed off the girl's sword and took a more objective look at her.

"Hmmmm, it seems you actually have some fire in you," The look in her eyes was far different from the other Huntsmen, they weren't as focused, as violent, as downright dangerous as this woman's eyes were at this very moment, "finally, an actual warrior."

Camellia did not respond as she continued to glare at the Helghast Colonel, she positioned herself in a defensive stance, she would not play into his hands so easily, he'd have to come to her if he wanted to fight. The Colonel seemed to notice this and for the first time he drew an actual weapon, a very large combat knife, possibly a machete fashioned to look like a massive Bowie knife.

"Let's make this more personal." Radec said as he launched himself at Camellia with his knife in a reversed grip, blades met in a shockwave as Aura colors manifested, bright pink versus dark grey, Camellia gritted her teeth as she pressed her sword against Radec's knife with all her strength, it seemed that even the Helghast Colonel was putting effort into pushing the smaller back with her feet slowly sliding back against the blackened soil.

Camellia ducked underneath the larger man with her blade following through, initially bouncing off of the armored breastplate of the Helghast but when it reconnected a gash was made in Radec's uniform, he hissed as his left hand pressed against the flesh wound, looking back at the woman he could see his blood on her blade.

This pleased him, he removed his left hand from his side and looked at it, "You managed to draw blood. I haven't seen my own blood in years."

"You'll be seeing more of it soon." She spat back maintaining her stance and focus.

A legitimate chuckle escaped the man, "I'm beginning to like you, but unfortunately for you, I don't have time for this anymore, there's a war for me to win."

Camellia raised her blade blocking an overhead strike, she blocked left, right, parried and nearly took off Radec's head with a swing but a punch to her exposed right flank sent her backwards into a wall. She spat blood as her hand went down to her ribs, two had been broken, if she hadn't flared her Aura in time the attack would've no doubt collapsed her lung and ended the fight.

Though she was feeling the effects of the Helghast attacks and the exhaustion from the fight she was not ready to give up yet, switching from her dominant right handed grip she held her blade in a reversed left handed one, though not as strong on this side she still had more of a chance of staying alive this way.

"I must apologize again, my lady," Radec said allowing his mask's visor to lift up again, "it appears I have underestimated your will to survive, or your will to spite me. Very rarely has anyone stuck around this long."

"Oh, for the love of- will you just shut up and get on with it!" She growled with a trickle of blood rolling down her chin, "Your passive aggressive taunting is getting old!"

Radec squinted at her with an amused look, "I'm not normally this talkative."

Swiftly he closed the distance and struck her sword, sending her through the wall she initially hit from his previous attack. This time however her sword slipped from her grip, she bounced off the ground and slammed down hard onto the ground, there were defiantly broken bones now as her left leg seemed to scream at her in stinging pain, her Aura was now faintly keeping her conscious as the Helghast Colonel knelt down next to her looking down with his shinning red eyepieces, she didn't bother trying to move as lying still already hurts like hell.

"There is no shame in death." He said as Camellia's eyes flickered, she could barely groan as her mind slipped into unconsciousness, her body shutting down as extensive trauma began to take its toll.

Before her life ended though Radec placed his hand on her head and transferred enough of his own Aura to her where she wouldn't die, but also wouldn't be able to recover any time soon, "However I've decided that today is not your day. This isn't over, Huntress. Far from over."

* * *

Present day…

As the day began to set for the Empire of Helghan the Headmaster of its most prestigious academy stood in parade rest, his eyes set upon the distant oceans of faraway lands where his son was now visiting in the name of "peace", such a word should've been struck from Helghan's lexicons, they were a warrior people and should stay that way.

Yet, the war was in the past, they won, if you could call what they had victory. Sure, Helghan was now wealthier than it had ever been, their nation at an unprecedented strength, its sons spared, but at what cost? The progress they made across those lands was all for naught, they kept few territories outside of Helghan's immediate vicinity, the Faunus nation was more or less a buffer state against Helghan, grand plans of colonies, wasted.

'All for the gesture of "goodwill",' He thought bitterly, 'for establishing relationships with utter rats like Jacques Schnee, with runts of Kingdoms ripe with corruption and utter inefficiency, such an utter waste! A waste of time, a waste of resources-'

The Colonel turned his back to the ocean view and wandered over to the other side of his office, gently turning the head of an eagle statue to the left, causing a secret room to open up behind his eloquent leather office chair. He followed a row of lights that lit up with every step, allowing himself the lax walk down the hall, with reverence he pressed the button allowing his mask visor to lift up, his green eyes looking pitifully at a display of his…collection.

Upon both walls hung the weapons, armor, and family badges of well over three dozen Huntsmen, trophies he acquired from his campaign across the foreign exotic lands of Remnant, the closest weapons being from his first kills. Along the same walls however were weapons and full model uniforms of the Helghast military.

"A waste of warriors." He whispered as his gloved fingers slid across the displays; friend, foe, Helghast, Human, Faunus, all equal on the field of battle, Death, their judge, jury, executioner. The last sacred thing in the world he'd often think, a place where poor and rich, Helghast and non-Helghast could meet and truly show superiority through skill and strength, where men could become Gods-

But even this was corrupted, as he was on the verge of taking Vacuo with his mighty army they were ordered to halt and turn back, a deal had been struct. His men that lied dead in the dirt, the men and women of the enemy that lied dead in the dirt, all died for a mere compromise that saw the victor getting scraps of what it initially wanted, compromising so that the elites of both sides could get what they wanted out of the whole bloody affair.

He owed Visari everything, without him, he'd be nothing. This being the case, even the Autarch could enrage his most loyal Hound; the men Radec led did not die for trade deals, they did not die for back room deals between silverspoon sucking bastards to make a quick buck off of their suffering… and from the suffering of the warriors they faced.

The past though bloody and wrong had set the foundations for this new Helghan, this new world, the Helghast people prospered but they would never know the true stories of these men and women, neither would the people of the Kingdoms, none would know of whatever backroom deal that was made to ensure peace, surely there was one truth.

But what is truth? What is rumor? What is absolute?

The noble intentions behind the start of the war, for vengeance, for the ability to reclaim what was once lost…all swept aside, for men in fancy suits to play their games. Whatever game was being played right now with the life of his son- its masters should know that if anything bad happens to him, the Hound of Visari will break his leash.

And if need be, bite the hand that once fed him.

* * *

Beacon Academy…

"So, this is the room?" Antoine asked to himself as he triple checked his Scroll, establishing a link with the room's locking mechanism, "Ah, it is."

The skinny Helghast pushed opened the door, he waved Sobieski and Gruber over as they were coming back from the locker room bay area, "Found it."

"They got some really white washrooms." Gruber said shaking his head, rubbing his eyes underneath his goggles, "Too damn bright, nearly lost Sobieski in there."

As the three Helghast entered the room they immediately made themselves acquainted with the soft mattresses, groaning as their time out at sea was not the most enjoyable one, tight cramped metal quarters with rigid metal beds that a thin mattress could only do so much to lessen the discomfort that the ships held.

Navy men must be masochists to want to live in this kind of environment.

Antoine Stahl was the first one to get up from his comfortable bed, "I'll be back guys, I want to see their library."

"Tell Radec to get his bitchass back here when you see him, he has got to see the focking bathrooms the have here, no one has drawn any dicks on the stalls, it's disgraceful!" Sobieski said as three black sharpies fell out of his pockets, "We need to change that!"

Antoine gave the white clothed Helghast a blank stare as he slowly closed the door, "Yeah. I'll do that."

Aside from Cobar's asinine request the high class Helghast teen followed the map his little Scroll had brought up, blistfully unaware that the ever so eager teams RWBY and JNPR were coming around from the opposite corner of the hall just as he turned on one that lead towards the library.

"It says that they should be down here." Ruby said as she read the door numbers.

"So, who's gonna knock on the door?" Jaune asked as he kept a relatively safe distance from the door itself.

Ruby spared no mind as she hit her knuckles against the door, "Hello?"

JNPR and the rest of her team deadpanned on the short scythe wielders boldness and apparent lack of fear for disturbing the Helghast visitors, Yang stood behind her sister with the intention of protecting her if they for some reason become violent and pick her as the first target of their rage.

"Who the fock could that be?" Came a thick metallic voice from behind the door.

"How should I know?"

"Answer it."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"I said so, that's why Gruber."

"Fine, snow cone looking bitch."

"Fock you, you ape-looking fock."

"Bitch I'll pile drive you! Oh, that's right, three inches shorter, can't do it!"

"The bigger they are, the bigger the lump will be when I beat your shit in!"

"Ah fuck you Sobieski." The second less metallic voice said as he got closer to the door.

Once the door opened the teams were stunned that a bear it seemed was wearing people's clothes, initially he looked over them before he realized that they were mostly shorter than him, "Oh…what do you tiny Humans want?"

Ruby stood speechless as she felt déjà vu, it was like she was five years old all over again, the boy or man in front of her was without a doubt well over seven feet tall, he was also built like a statue, which only added onto how small she felt looking up at him, "H-h-hi. I'm Ruby Rose…w-welcome to Beacon."

"Oh." The Helghast said as his crimson eye pieces concentrated on her, "Sergeant Eli Gruber."

"Who's at the door?" Sobieski called from his bed.

"Ruby Rose," Gruber called back, "and friends."

"Who- ah to hell with it." The Helghast soldier said as he walked into view, "What do you want?"

For a moment both teams went inhumanely pale, the color just seemed to drain from them as their eyes laid eyes upon what they assumed to be the infamous White Death. Jaune nearly fainted as he held onto Pyrrha's shoulder in a vicelike grip, Nora hid behind Ren as the stoic ninja himself tremble just slightly. Blake's cat ears stood perfectly still as her pupils dilated out of pure horror.

Colonel Tendon Cobar was a name every Faunus was taught to fear, he was responsible with the devastation of Fort Castle after the Faunus initially captured it from the Human armies, it was said that he and General Metric personally over saw the torturing of Faunus prisoners by removing their extra sensory organs by hand.

"Sobieski, come on, you're scaring them!" Eli said elbowing the white clothed Helghast in his gut.

"How is that my fault? I haven't said ten words to them!" Sobieski complained with irritation in his voice, "I'm Lieutenant Sobieski Cobar, Colonel Tendon Cobar's son."

The teams released a collectively held breath as they now knew that the boy standing in front of him was not in fact the infamous White Death, just his son…SON!?

Sobieski crossed his arms glaring down at the Humans in front of him, "Are you just going to stand there or do you something worth wasting our time?"

"We uh, you see our friend Weiss is a friend or your friend uhhh… what was his name?" Ruby asked glancing back at her sister.

"Koza?" Gruber said, "Koza Radec, yeah he left us earlier to try and find your friend. Our other teammate Antoine Stahl just left to go find your library."

"Oh, okay." Ruby said awkwardly, "Well, we just wanted to say hi, and wondered if you guys wanted to hangout or something, maybe even have a party or something?"

"Then that'll have to wait," Sobieski said unfolding his arms, "we got to set up an environment where we can breathe without our masks then go to sleep because fock boats."

"Language!" Yang said covering Ruby's ears.

"Oh, sod off you puny-" Eli blocked Sobieski from advancing towards Yang and possibly starting something.

"He's a bit cranky, travel and all, nice to meet you all bye!" The massive Helghast said as he closed the door shut.

Jaune released another held breath, laughing nervously, "Man, I-I thought he was- and he'd get in a fight with Yang."

"Hmph," Yang crossed her arms aggressively, "I would've taught him a thing or two about manners."

"Yaaaang, we're trying to be nice." Ruby said cautiously.

The blonde girl tried glaring through the door, "Yeah, well that guy has already pissed me off."

"Well, it's been fun and all guys bit we're gonna go back to the dorm, having a heart attack is trying work." Jaune said rubbing the back of his neck.

Ruby nodded, "Sounds like a good idea, where are you going Blake?"

The raven-haired Faunus in disguise looked over her shoulder, "I'm going to see if this Stahl is as much of a jerk as Sobieski."

* * *

Unknown corridor…

The Heiress suppressed a giggle as Koza's peppered her collar bone with kisses, her breath hitched as she felt his ungloved hand daringly trailed up her leg, stopping halfway up her thigh, "Koz~"

"Hmmm, yes my lady?" He asked with a low husky growl in her ear.

"Someone might see us." She gasped as he undid her ponytail, tangling his fingers in her silky white hair.

"You should just wear it down," He whispered kissing behind her ear, making the Heiress shiver pleasantly, "you look prettier like this. Like you're free."

"I know, but my team and your team are going to start getting curious." She said looking down both corridor entrances.

The Helghast sighed lifting the Heiress out of his lap, setting her back down on her feet, though when she turned around he reached down and gave her butt a firm smack. Weiss jumped up into the air with her hands covering her butt, she turned and gave Koza an icy glare.

"Koza!" She growled rubbing her sore butt.

He however was unphased by the glare and pecked her nose, making the Heiress instinctively rub her nose, "Father gives better glares."

Weiss crossed her arms and gave him another 'hmph!', "How is he these days?"

Koza groaned rolling his eyes, "He keeps on pressuring me into learning about the duties of being Headmaster for when I'm supposed to take over for him, boy was he upset when he heard I was coming over here."

"Really?" She asked seemingly surprised that Mael Radec could get upset at anything.

"Yeah, he tried to talk me out of going but the Autarch himself picked me, how could say no to Visari?" Koza reasoned, he sighed leaning against a wall, "He was really upset because my mother's death anniversary is coming up."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that Koza." Weiss said grabbing his right hand with both of her hands.

"It's alright, I mean, I never got to meet her. Apparently, she died of a plague that was around before I was even one years old, Father however takes it really hard, he locks himself up in his office for hours."

"Awwww," The Heiress pressed her forehead against Koza's for a few moments, gently she kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his hand, "I'm sure he is still proud of you for doing this though."

"Yeah, he tried using this newfound fame to set me up with several different noble women before I left." The Helghast teen said coyly with a smirk.

The Heiress puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms, tapping her foot expectantly on the ground, "Yeah, how did that go."

Koza put his hands behind his back against the wall, "Hmmm, yes. They were pretty."

"Uhuh."

"Some even had hair that reached down their backs, and it was real hair."

Weiss narrowed her eyes, "Uhuh."

"But, alas they just weren't for me."

"And why is that? Surely their families were rich?" Weiss asked with interest.

"True, true. But they weren't the girl I promised to run away with many years ago." Koza said tugging Weiss closer by her belt, "I promised this one little cutie that when we'd grow up I'd save her from a cold castle, marry her, and build her a warm home."

A genuine smile crossed the Heiress's face remembering the promise, "And just who was this little cutie?"

Koza's green eyes met Weiss's icy blue, craning his neck down just slightly their lips met again, showing that a promise once made as children was not one so easily forgotten, instead, one that both still wanted to see come to fruition.

Unfortunately, they knew that they could not stay in this corridor forever, their teams would most certainly start looking for them soon, so after resituating a gas mask and pony tail they took care in making sure that they stood an appropriate distance away from each other, taking upon their usual veneers of highborn status.

Though they did share one last affectionate look between themselves before setting off to go find the dormitory.

* * *

Beacon library…

"I like this place already." Antoine said as his sight was graced with volumes upon volumes, shelf upon shelf of literary knowledge. He was ever thankful that he took classes on the main language the Kingdoms read, he highly doubted anything was written in Helghast penmanship.

Yet, where should he start? Art? History? Chemistry? Perhaps biological science instead, Colonel Kratek often pointed out that biological science is what separated the Helghast from the other two races, in fact it was something Antoine took profound interest in.

No one on Helghan can deny they evolved from Humans, yet no one could claim Faunus heritage, their race simply didn't adapt well to Helghan or old prejudices helped rid Helghan of their people all together in the chaotic years of the founding of Helghan and Visari's Dynasty, this only increased his interest in the foreign race, not much information was present in Helghan's libraries.

This one however must be different.

Antoine wandered around the towering bookcases with a wild grin on his face, feeling giddy as a child alone in a candy shop, the Helghast National Library was massive, truly it was, but this library was far welcoming, less stuffy, bright with attractive odd colors, if he hadn't known any better he'd say he was high on narcotics.

This place was oddly liberating, no doubt they had texts that were not censored or forbidden like in Helghan, his own father's private illegal collection would surely pale in comparison to this holy land of knowledge, but the only downside was that he was now having trouble finding the books he wanted.

"Hmmm," Shelf after shelf was a section of knowledge that he was not looking for, "blast."

Just as he went for another shelf he bumped into someone, knocking their books down to the floor.

"Oh dear, I'm very sorry!" He said as a bundle of nerves welled in his chest, not even the first day and he manages to make to bumble into a Kingdomer, possibly starting a confrontation that the ravenous Kingdom news agencies would no doubt try use as another means to paint the Helghast exchange students in an already not so flattering light.

"It's my fault I wasn't looking!" Came the panicked reply of the woman he bumped into.

As he knelt down to help pick her books up he felt something touch his hair, he looked up while brushing his hair and stared with absolute shock as his eyes spotted two long bunny ears, he followed the ears down to the long brown hair they sprouted from and finally to the lady he had bumped into.

Antoine's jaw dropped open as he made the startling realization of just what he bumped into, a Faunus, an honest to God Faunus.

"You're a Faunus!"

"You're a Helghast!"

Both stared at each other as if they grew two heads spontaneously, luckily though Antoine was able to gather his supposed superior intellect and started to form some complex sentences before things got even more awkward and stuck out his hand.

"Uh-I'm Antoine Stahl, from the-uh- exchange program." Nailed it.

"Velvet, Velvet Scartalantia. I'm a second-year student."

The Rabbit Faunus sat there awkwardly as Antoine stared up at her ears with fascination, a tinge of red covered her cheeks as her ears twitched involuntarily.

It had seemed he figured out what he was doing, "Oh! Excuse me for my rudeness-I- so many Helghast these days just think your people are a myth, no one has any up to date books on the Faunus, let alone actually meet one."

"Well, that's okay I guess, please don't stare though." She said rubbing her right ear.

Realizing where they were Antoine started picking her books up, "Um, this is kind of out of nowhere but can you tell me where the biology books are and or books on your people?"

Velvet blinked rapidly but nodded standing back up, "Uh, sure, why are you interested in the Faunus?"

"Well, heh, you see not many texts exist about the Faunus in Helghan, and like I said earlier not many people believe the Faunus even exist. I'm basically the only Helghast so far that's researching the Faunus."

"I see, but why though?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

Antoine pursed his lips trying to guess if the lady in front of him would be offended by his answer, there was no use in lying as it wasn't a skill of his, "A while back in history class when I was learning about the Helghast colonists I read that the Faunus weren't able to evolve like the Human colonists, I and my teacher Colonel Kratek have been trying to figure out why and how can we try creating a Faunus subspecies of Helghast."

Velvet furrowed her eyebrows, the Helghast actually wanted Faunus citizens?

"The whole point of it is to create a greater race of Helghast, to show that our peoples can coexist and evolve eventually into something greater than just three races. Of course, there are some Helghast not too hot on the idea." Antoine admitted, seemingly bummed out that there were Helghast opposed to the grand plan to create a super race.

"There would also be Humans and Faunus opposed to that too," She said bittersweetly, "but it sounds like you have good intensions."

"Oh," A tinge of blush burn on the Stahl Industries heir, "well, thank you."

"Velvet, where are you?" Antoine heard a feminine voice call out.

"Over here Coco." Velvet said surprising Antoine.

A woman clad in a pseudo yet very stylish military uniform came around the corner of a bookshelf, "Oh hey, who- is that one of the Helghast exchange students?"

"Uh, hi, Antoine Stahl." He said sticking his hand out again.

Coco dipped her sunglasses down meeting his grip, if not adding extra force to it, "Coco Adel, Velvet's team leader. Nice threads."

Antoine frowned for a second at the slang, "Threads? You mean my clothes?"

The fashionista rolled her eyes, "Yes, its uh, it's nice. Kinda dark."

The Helghast boy shrugged his shoulders, "Helghan, not a colorful place."

"Hey Coco," Velvet asked, "I was going to show Antoine some books he is looking for, wanna come with us?"

Coco shrugged her shoulders pushing her sunglasses back up, "Eh, sure. It's not every day you meet someone from the Helghast Empire."

"Good, this way." Velvet said leading Antoine towards the books he was looking for, however completely unaware of the feline eyes that were watching and had been listening to the whole conversation.

'He seems very different from his friends.' Blake thought as she lowkey started tailing the odd trio, 'Not big like the other two and most certainly not as aggressive or rude, interesting.'

* * *

Here we are, yet again folks, Helghan's Reach straight outta nowhere with a flash to the past with the man, the myth, the fucking Helghast War God, senpai, Colonel Mael Radec using his superior everything to beat a bunch of lowly young Huntsmen to death, at that point he was around forty three years old and a veteran of the Helghast Emergence War where he was hailed as a hero, they simply had no chance except for Camellia Bloom, we will go back to the past, Samurai Jack, every now and again just to see the war itself. As you read Weiss and Koza have been in love for awhile, but seeing as it would be a Helghast crime punishable by death to have relations with a non-Helghast and seeing on how Weiss would be ostracized and disowned by her family and society their whole relationship is underwraps.

Now, off topic here, I have never read Tokyo Ghoul and only saw one episode on Toonami, I don't care if a ship is with straights or gays but bullying a writer and telling him to kill himself for not following a ship is just fucking horrible, the man works his fingers to the bone to provide entertainment only to be bullied by supposed fans, disgraceful, you don't have to, but I'm gonna send Sui Ishida something nice with a Twitter account because it isn't fair on what's happening to him, do it if you want to, I'm just getting this off of my chest.

Have a nice day, Doomsdayguy12345 out!


	4. Chapter 4

"A Deathstalker you say?" Koza asked with a small grin under his mask, the stories of Beacon Academy's initiation were…interesting to say the least, Helghan's trials were far more…well, Helghasty, more of a kill or be killed mentality and the strongest is chosen as the leader. He did not have the luxury to be anything but the strongest, lest his father bring out an iron rod for beating.

"Yes, we took that and a Nevermore down. JNPR handled the Deathstalker for the most part while my team killed the Nevermore, Ruby in fact decapitated it running up the cliff face with some help from my glyph's." The Heiress said with a bit of pride in her tone, puffing out her chest and trying to stand up straighter to look taller, "I say we work really well as a team, we even have some strategies worked out."

Koza nearly fell over laughing, "Like in comic books or animation movies?"

Weiss blinked rapidly with a streak of red on her face, "Well, shut up Koza!"

"It's hilarious."

"No, its not! It is a serious strategy!"

His gloved fingers pinched the Heiress's cheek, "Its adorable."

She slapped his hand nearly spitting fire, "It is a mature and strategic way of organizing defensive and offensive maneuvers!"

"You're so cute when you're angry." Koza said boldly, patting the irate Schnee girl on her head.

White teeth ground against each other as two fists balled up, "Don't say that in public! You dolt! We could get in trouble!"

Koza rolled his neck to illustrate his dismissal of Weiss's fears, "My scanners haven't picked up any hearts beats within the last seventy-five meters."

"What?" Weiss squinted at Koza's visor, "How are your eye pieces big enough for a heads-up display? Atlesian tech requires visors to properly display a message."

Koza crossed his arms smugly, "You Atlas folk need to step your game up then. If we went into a Cold War you would be sorely behind us."

"Don't say that," Weiss hissed crossing her arms at him, "you might jinx it and we might go to war."

The Helghast boy uncrossed his arms and pulled the Heiress against his breastplate, he hadn't realized just how badly the subject of war could upset her so suddenly, "I'm sorry, I take it back."

Weiss was tempted to try and reach around Koza but instead she pushed off of him, "We aren't in private anymore, we need to be careful, very careful. Our fathers-"

Koza groaned, he straightened his back with his left arm behind his back and coughed changing his voice, "Young man you listen to me this instant, you will read my book on Warrior Excellence in front of me right now or I will have you rewrite the whole damn book for a report."

A smirk crossed the Heiress's face as she tried to keep composure.

Koza started goose stepping and hailing Visari with his left arm snapping in the air, "You will be the strongest and smartest student in every class or I will beat you with an iron pipe, if you so much have anything lower than ninety five percent you will not eat for a week. When I was your age I survived on stale bread crumbs while working in the mines and in the war for Helghan! Blah, blah, blah! You will be taking over for me one day and you will be the best pupil the Academy ever had too!"

Weiss couldn't help herself as she broke into a fit of laughter at Koza's stereotypical impersonation of his father, after a quick inhale of air she brought a lock of hair over her lip, "Young lady now you will listen to me, you are going to be perfection incarnate even if it kills you, you will not talk back to me, stand up straight! Don't talk back to me! You will do this! You will do that! It's for my legacy! For the company!"

Koza clapped for Weiss's impersonation of her father, "Ugh, I love my father, but by God can he be an asshole. That's right, I can say that, fuck him, fuck the Academy! I hate that place so fucking much. You know what? Fuck Visari, fuck him, fuck his laws, fuck them all!"

A shy, nearly timid expression crossed Weiss's face, "Yeah…fuck the company," her face became even bolder as she flashed a pale toothy grin, "…and fuck my father, fuck them both!"

Deep chuckling came from Koza as he pulled the Heiress back into his arms, "Let's do it, let's run away."

"You'll build me my house?" Weiss whispered embracing the Helghast boy's hug.

"Yeah," He said loosening his grip around her, "build your house, after taking you from that cold castle and have you as my wife."

Both shared a look with each other, such beautiful words, kind and endearing, full of love and compassion, the ever-romanticized rebellious thoughts of independence, denying their so-called destinies in favor of free will and a very true love… yet that is all they were…just kind and endearing words of a romance befitting of a tragedy, there was no happy ending in sight for either of them no matter what they did.

Reality was not in their favor, death awaited him, disownment and ostracization for her, two hearts split apart by an ocean, flags, many peoples, and finally immortal poisonous ideals that made up the very fabric of Helghan itself. Every seam of the Helghast flag was stitched with hatred, anger, fear, ignorance, wrath in every one of its forms.

Fate was cruel to both of them, if there was so much as a rumor of the Helghast boy saying something negative about Visari or Helghan then the Secret Police would take him in for questioning and watch him every day for the rest of his life, waiting for him to say or do something wrong, no matter his status, they would come for him.

Weiss would be removed from her family's fortune; her name might even be stricken for their records if Jacques found out what she said. Even though they wouldn't necessarily leave her penny less as it would reflect bad on them she sure as hell would never be able to show her face in public ever again. For such a "progressive" society, the Kingdoms held an understandably bad view for the Helghast and anyone that consorted with them, even going as far to ostracize doctors that saved Helghast soldiers on the battlefield.

Such pretty words.

Pretty words however meant nothing in reality, it was something they both understood with pained hearts, something they had to endure, a fact they will have to come to peace with. Yet there was always that burning desire to give Fate the largest middle finger imaginable, to not only be happy together but to also show others that it could be done in the first place.

Neither however were ready to make that leap.

"I'd like that, I'd like it a lot." Weiss said breaking their silence, slipping her hands away from Koza's waist, she turned away from him and put on her usual face of icy coldness and walked forward, yet her soul screamed in frustration behind her eyes, slightly welling them up before she brushed them with her sleeve.

Koza watched after her as he felt the jovial mood slip from the world, a cold ironlike atmosphere took its place, much like how Radec Academy felt every day whenever he woke up to its chill, yet he wasn't letting it bother him. In his heart, a roaring hateful fire brewed, its spark however was not one of racial malice or political partisanship, not one of ubernationalism, not even one for personal domination over those slated as below him.

The spark was pain, its tinder was love for a girl he knew was unattainable, the smoke smothering the flame to keep it from rising out of control was the thick cloud of smoke, his fear, the fear of his Father's wrath, the wrath of his people, of her people. Fear that haunted him every time he thought about her.

As long as this fire burned he would still care for her, he'd still push his limits and pray that the world, her people, his people, could one day learn to change, to forgive…yet the smoke was ever present, smothering, oppressing his flame, his hope. For now, at least he allowed the smoke to cover his flame, but he will eventually vent it out and take in a nice deep breath of freedom from fear.

So with that being the case he wasn't about to let her leave him behind, they still had some catching up to do before dark.

* * *

Blake's POV…

For the past ten minutes, the raven haired Faunus in disguise had trailed the Helghast teen and Beacon Second Years soaking up as much information as she possibly could about the ever ominous foreign land of the Triad. Never had she actually heard recent accounts about the island nation from an actual Helghast, just horror stories Faunus parents to scare their children and the tales the veterans would sometimes tell after a few drinks, even then they weren't detailed, but the look in their eyes told it all, the fits of night terrors and uncontrollable sobbing whenever someone so much as mentioned the name Helghan, showed an image that may in the smallest detail resemble a gas mask or triad told just how horrible the Helghast were in their war.

So why was this boy so…average? If not more socially awkward than Ruby or Jaune? He seemed like a huge nerd and not the hulking masses of muscle and metal like his counterparts, he wasn't even earing his gas mask, it just hung around his neck like a decoration instead of a necessary piece of equipment to breath with, he wasn't bald either, weren't they all bald?

"Then when I started searching through the volumes upon volumes of genetic and hereditary research I found that only a very small, if not zero point zero, zero, zero one percent of Helghast shared genetics with the Faunus, more than likely a fifth-generation mixed breed was their parent with the dominant genetic traits, even then it is impractical if not flat out impossible to test everyone just to find this minute percent." Antoine continuously babbled on, boring Coco Adel to the point of her nearly sleeping whilst standing, Velvet however managed to stay awake, if not seemed to comprehend what the Helghast scientist was actually talking about.

"Colonel Kratek was kind enough to even let me work on my research in class, because I usually finished my assignments before everyone else by a long shot no matter how hard Koza tried to keep up with me. The good Colonel even said he'd bring my findings to the Imperial Council for them to consider funding a possible research team to create an evolutionary enhancer to convert non-Helghast into Helghast!"

Blake's eye narrowed in suspicion at this, 'What could they possibly gain to benefit from that? Helghan is a big island but it's still a finite space.'

"Imperial Council?" Velvet asked, "What's that?"

"They are the leaders of the military and various other forms of bureaucracy and even the larger corporations," Antoine explained mechanically, "they govern the smaller or more tedious parts of the government, things our Emperor could not be bothered with. Their word carries weight but Visari's word is law, and the Helghast obey every word no matter their status."

Coco seemed to hear what the boy said even though she was dead on her feet, "What do you mean tedious?"

Antoine waved his hand as if he was brushing the question aiside, "Oh, you know, the ever fluctuating economy, health care, weapon manufacturing, food distribution, education, the things that don't need Visari constantly hawking over. The Emperor doesn't need to worry himself about those things."

"Wait, is it Emperor or Autach?" The Bunny Faunus asked with minor confusion.

"Well, technically both titles are correct. Both are practically the same thing, Emperor is the more correct and politically right term, Autarch is used primarily by military or other more extreme loyalists as reminiscing of this former title. He was crowned Emperor at the end of the Emergence War as a sign of his total rule over Helghan."

"Ahh, I see." Coco said very unconvincingly, personally she thought that it was kinda stupid to not stick to just one title but that was just her opinion.

"My father is also on the council, which also paints a literal target on my back." Antoine said rolling his eyes, "You won't believe how many people showed up at the protests by the docks. All the words they put on their bloody signs."

The Faunus girl however nodded, "No, I defiantly know what that feels like."

The Helghast boy frowned, "What do you mean?"

"The Faunus aren't treated as equals by everyone in the Kingdoms, a lot of people still hate us simply for existing." She said with a sullen expression, her team leader placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"It makes no sense to me," Antoine said obviously annoyed, "terrible things were done in the past, but both sides did terrible things, to think we'd all try a little bit harder to understand, what with the Grimm as an ever-constant threat. But I would've thought you'd all hate my people more instead of hating each other, I mean, come on, you needed each other to hold the Helghast off."

"You'd be surprised, Human supremacists can't decide who to hate more." Velvet said disheartened.

Antoine frowned seeing Velvet's sudden mood change, "Well, to be honest, if I had it my way they could all just die in their old world while we build the new one. I will not stop until a way to universalize our races can be found. This foolishness must end."

Blake was surprised by the conviction in Antoine's voice as she kept herself hidden behind a bookshelf, he seemed legitimate in his quest, it was very uncharacteristic that a Helghast would ever utter such bold words. This just didn't add up, just who was this boy and how many others are like him? His father made billions off of the corpses of Humans and Faunus alike, yet he seemed to be a completely different man.

Velvet allowed a small smile to grace her lips, "That sounds nice Antoine, but I'm not even sure that would change anything."

"Maybe not," He said seemingly admitting his quest would be all for not, "but it doesn't mean I can't give it a shot."

She decided that she had heard enough, for now, Blake decided that she would try and get Antoine into a conversation and ask him more about his quest for a universal race and about his people, for now though she was going to leave them be, she had no doubt that they'd more than likely cross paths in school, it's not like he'd be hard to find.

* * *

Pyrrhus Deep, Helghan…

Large walls standing in the hundreds of meters cast a daunting shadow over the ever-moving metropolis, railguns as large as some of the smaller mansions sat along the walls for every two hundred meters, squads drove on armored buggies along the trenches of the wall, performing routine patrols and inspections of their defenses.

Behind the shadows of these armaments and men lied a thriving industrial metropolis, state owned apartment buildings stood nearly touching the clouds in their impressive height, within these buildings hundreds or even thousands of workers and their families called their blocks home, ever thankful to their benevolent Emperor for allowing them to work so close to home.

Each room was a standard fifteen by thirty living space, one bathroom, two bedrooms with a kitchen that leads into the small living room allowed by the Helghast Council. The buildings themselves stood at a staggering two hundred stories each, a family of at least four or five living in each apartment, three out of the four or five would be of adult working age while the children went to the state ran schools.

Boys would learn to be the most fearsome fighting force on the planet, enduring physical tests that would kill less than zero-point five percent of the generation by the age of fifteen, little more than half of them would continue on to be the Helghast Guard and defend the home-front, the other half would be going into the fields of industry and state ran businesses. A quarter would be a part of the Expeditionary Force, ever ready and eager to stab into the heart of the Kingdoms.

Girls for the most part were taught how to be perfect housewives, loyal and obedient to their husbands and to the nation by producing the newest generation of Helghast, though those that showed drive and potential were allowed to join in with the army, and those that showed enough aggression were offered a spot at the most prestigious academy in the land, one that allowed free schooling, but also had the highest of casualty rates and strictest of rules for its students, death being an average penalty for consistent low marks or rule breaking.

Radec Academy.

It stood as one of the most important buildings in all of Helghan, third to the Helghast Council which was second only to Visari Palace. Every aspiring military or political leader flocked to the Academy with the hopes of becoming a great warrior or popular politician because of the diploma that was written in red ink, stamped by the Emperor himself at the graduation ceremony.

Of course, though there came setbacks, anyone, no matter their pedigree was refused to have their names used by the teachers during the first year, only an assigned serial number belonging to a letter in the Helghast Alphabet, and everyone including the son of the Founding Headmaster was liable to be shot in public whether it was arranged and dramatic or if it was sudden, in the middle of a class even.

It was at this school that the upper caste and the lower caste were truly equal, no one had to go to this school, you were free to leave and be branded a coward by society, but you couldn't say it was not fair, everyone had equal opportunity to either accel or die a sometimes-swift death. Some would call the school inhumane, to Humanity it might be an affront to society, but to the Helghast, it was natural and efficient in every sense.

Only the strong survived. Only they dominated.

Expanded three times from its original size, one could call it a military base, as it was in fact a reservist training ground, one of the few universal requirements was that you had to be in the Helghast Guard and have at least a three-point zero grade point average, any lower would make life very difficult in modest terms, then again, modest punishment was a public flogging.

The Colonel would not deny, he was a brutal man, his school was his brutality given an immortal physical form, one that would take hundreds of years if not thousands to erode, or a few well-placed airstrikes. Assuming anyone could get that close and past all the anti-air and anti-ballistic defenses that were built into the school itself, let alone get anywhere near this far into the militarized Helghast countryside.

Why his continuously protested inheriting such a literal fortress of knowledge, an honor most ambitious men, or snakes as he most commonly referred to them as, would kill for. A job that held an honorable title, that brought along many perks that the younger Mael Radec would without a doubt murder for, noble women would be at his feet, begging on their knees for him to put a child in them, many men on business suits holding contracts promising money in the millions for allowing them to sell their products within the school's very walls.

Any man with a head on his shoulders, with burning pockets and empty wallets would cut off their own legs if it meant to govern this position for merely a fortnight that offered a lifetime of fame. Yet his son looked at the school built by his father's hands with contempt, he had the skill and the potential to something greater than a mere man, the potential to ascend to Godship, to a position that was under the heel of the Emperor, second only to his authority.

All of this he sees as nothing, why? The Colonel could blame it on the "liberal" or "progressive" atmosphere of the Kingdoms, the very notion of their "freedom" could be to blame, so called "expression" that the Helghast Empire held ungodly contempt for. Their teachings bring nothing but pain, weakness, they call themselves free yet are held prisoner within their own lands by soulless monsters, victims, to the rampant corruption and underhanded practices of their governments and corporate entities.

Protests were encouraged, direct opposition to their ruling class, encouraged by the ruling class, such lunacy! Criminals were allowed enough rights for them to be able to slip through the metal shackles of their constables, all the while rebellion against their authority was encouraged by the very men and women paying their salaries. Such insanity, how he wished Visari allowed him to burn their dead societies, cleanse their lands of the failed systems that continue to fester and rot while petty thieves like this Torchwick man continued to run free.

The Colonel however knew better, his son cared not for any Kingdom, he cared not for the false freedoms, no, all he cared about, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, all that Koza Radec cared about was that girl. That girl, from that wretched family, a weasel father, cowardly inattentive mother, a family that allowed mere servants to raise their children. Disgraceful.

Yet no matter how much he hated Jacques and his wife, no hatred could be directed towards the children. While he had grown up a poor boy he knew the pain that came from an inattentive scornful parent's gaze, he had sworn to be a better man, a better father towards his son but how could he help him now?

Love flickered in both of their eyes, he saw it years ago and he had no doubt that it still burned within his boy's eyes. Of all the things, he knew how to kill, love was one of the things that even the man with a steel heart, the Hound of Visari, could not kill.

However, the matters of the heart and of family had to be put on hold, the transport he was in had just touched down on one of the many landing pads next to the Helghan Council's building known as the Hall of Order to most of the population. Originally known as the Helghast Senate, the new Helghast Council held marginally less power than they did before, Visari made that clear after he had been anointed Emperor and after the whole country swore an oath of loyalty to him.

He made his newfound power known by ordering all of the guards to arrest the Senate and threatened them with death if they didn't sign over all titles of regional ownership to him, Visari literally owned every square inch of land on Helghan, the companies and government rented it from him. With such sway over the people of Helghan any minute threat towards the Emperor would be seen as almost religious blasphemy to even the poorest of men.

"Hail Visari, hail Heghan!" A Praetorian declared with a left-handed salute, greeting the Colonel as he left the transport, his golden pieces of armor shining in the sun.

Colonel Radec returned the same greeting and allowed the propped-up security guard to lead him to a car befitting the political elite. Unsurprisingly the Colonel ignored the car and instead entered the lead escort APC, he was annoyed that the Councilmen continued to send such an ugly useless vehicle to take him into the inner sanctum, it was borderline close to insulting the man with a paper-thin metal sheet box, those things were death traps.

Not a word was spoken the whole ride as the Colonel sat with his arms crossed, his own guards, the higher echelons of the schools fourth year grade sat ever silently with their weapons in low ready position at all times. These students were deemed the strongest within their class, the men that would lead commando teams in their near future, they'd get to even have the opportunity to fight Huntsmen in training in the future Vytal festivals as soon as relations are smoothed further. Until then however they will have to contend with being the security routine for Visari's Hound.

The Hall of Order was a massive structure, one that had cost more than the Colonel would like to think about, whole floors were dedicated to servers that linked the whole nation together, and next to those servers were rooms of men and women monitoring and censoring communications if the conversations the citizen's made warranted it, everyone already knew better but these people were an insurance policy for the government.

Descent was not tolerated.

There were many buildings though out the country that handled the same job, this one building however proof read all their work, at least in the Second Wing. The Third Wing handled all the marketing and propaganda that would be selected weeks in advance, every leaflet, every little bit of text was to be perfect, for every spelling mistake or misprint a finger was lost.

The First Wing of the structure however was where criminal justice was handled for state criminals and where laws would be announced whenever the Council wanted to remind people that they were in fact relevant and not a total waste of taxed revenue. All of these wings were important, but the Center, the Center was where meetings were conducted and where the Colonel was summoned.

In this Triad formed building only one man was allowed to call for such a sudden meeting. Emperor Scolar Visari wanted his favorite pet by his side whenever these meetings were conducted, understandably he did not trust any of the Councilmen, and since Colonel Mael Radec was the only man in the room that had slaughtered numerous Huntsmen his very presence called order to the room, since he was also a Councilman by default not only for his role in training Helghast's Huntsmen but his more "diplomatic" relations with the Kingdom Huntsman Headmasters, his word meant a lot.

He leads his blinded retinue through a secret passageway, the blindfolds being specially designed to cover their optics, each man had to get over with having to hold each other's hands as the point man was allowed to have Colonel Radec pull his gas mask's hose to be guided in the right direction.

The Colonel wasn't so naïve to believe his men could be entirely trustworthy, they were ambitious serpents after all, only he could trust himself with the Emperor's safety, he'd been with Visari since the beginning as a loyal attack dog in the Helghast Empire's early days, there wasn't a single man in the world that the Emperor trusted more than him.

'Even if we do have ideological disagreements.' The Colonel thought dryly. Of all of the Helghast ideals the race card wasn't really one that interested the Colonel, it was a scientific fact that the Helghast Race in many ways was superior, yet they could not see in the dark or hear at greater distances than the Faunus, the Humans didn't need to wear gas masks to survive their lands or even have to deal with such a hellish environment.

While living might be more comfortable for them, it was also what made them weaker, just because they had some evolutionary tricks didn't mean they would win, their races outbred Helghan yet through superior technology and the harsh reality of the Helghast people brought them victory through the threat of utter annihilating their peoples and ravaging their pretty lands. It's not the triumph of blood, but the triumph of will, of character, that is what made the Helghast superior, blood at the end of the day was copper and iron, it was red when spilt, no matter who it came from.

'Respect your enemy's will and ability to spite you, do not underestimate your opponent, he who underestimates the smallest of foes has already lost, their ego hath blinded them to the attack coming from the rear.' A line recalled from one of the paragraphs in his book, many Helghast would voice their discontent in having to respect their foes but who were they to oppose the word of their greatest battle tested warrior?

Visari even commented his discomfort with the wording Radec chose, but he had to admit that the Colonel was right, the Kingdoms after all had only ever underestimated the Helghast until the Emergence War. Now, now they feared Helghan more than they feared the Grimm, they knew that death from the Grimm would be swift, from Helghan, it would be slow and deliberate.

"Colonel! Colonel Radec!"

The Headmaster of his namesake Academy stopped and snapped right towards the voice that called his name, swiftly he bowed with his right arm across his chest, "Lady Hera Visari."

The young woman smiled doing a curtsy, "You know you can call me Hera, Uncle Radec."

Bringing himself back to his full height the Colonel got a better look at the girl he had spent a great deal of his life raising, "You have gotten quite tall, either my old mind is rusting or it has been awhile since I last saw you."

Hera motioned for the Colonel to take her arm, "It's only been a few years Uncle, Koza's tenth birthday."

Colonel Radec nodded as he recollected the event, "Ah, yes. Your Father showed up that day, Koza ranted about the honor he felt in his presence until the boy dropped."

"I hear he was deployed for the Kingdoms as a student representative, along with a few other celebrity sons." The Imperial Heiress remarked with interest.

"Yes," Radec said dryly, "the Emperor thought it would be best to send our best, to send students with recognizable names to intimidate them."

"You don't think it is best, Uncle?" Hera asked.

"I trust my son and Antoine to give a good impression of the Helghast people being more civilized than what their propaganda says, Eli is loyal to the letter and do as he is told, but Sobieski might be too…aggressive, for their tastes." Radec however sighed rolling his eyes, "Considering who is father is, I don't place all the blame on his shoulders."

"Colonel Cobar still hasn't gotten over Metrac's death I presume?" Hera asked seemingly surprised by that information, "What even killed the good General? I suppose it had to be something incredibly fierce."

Colonel Radec's blood ran cold as he recalled the events of the famed and martyred General's death, "Yes. That day we saw why you should never underestimate our foes to our North, you should remember that lesson well, Lady Visari, it will be something that will greatly burden you upon your Father's throne."

Lady Hera Visari sighed, "I know, he has been getting worse these last few months, despite what he appears to look on the news. Kratek says it's only a few months now, maybe a year if he is lucky."

"My Lady," Colonel Radec shifted his mask's visor so he could look her in the eye, even though he towered over her by a foot, "I know that this time will be hard for you. But you are his daughter, you are Helghast, you will lead Helghan into a new and brighter future. I and my son have sworn upon of forefather's ashes, upon the ashes of Helghan's past, that we would serve your family as its right hand, as your protectors, your attack hounds. We will always be ready for your order, we would rip the Gods from the heavens upon your request."

A genuine smile came across the future Heiress's lips, "Thank you Uncle Radec, your family has served us well, I will greatly value your advice in the future. But I can't keep you any longer, they surely must be waiting for you now."

"Are you not going to be present my Lady Visari?" The Colonel asked, "This would surely be a great learning experience."

"I thought the same, but father insisted otherwise, he said that you'd explain the situation far better in the future when the 'game' has started, whatever that means, I assume a new war." Hera did another curtsy to Radec, he himself following with his bow, "Until next time, Uncle Radec."

"Of course, my Lady." As the Imperial Heiress left he turned back towards his men, who were now jogging up to him after he and Hera wandered ahead sixty paces, "What did any of you hear?"

"Nothing, sir!" The men responded in unison.

"Good," He said continuing his walk to the meeting room, "you live longer that way."

Four of his guards charged ahead and pressed their shoulders against the two-daunting golden covered with the visages of Helghast miners marching forward with a foreman behind them, seemingly pointing towards the Sun. The rows they were leading sprinted to the walls bordering the doors and gave all clear signals on both sides.

The four men pushed the doors open as the rest of the routine entered the room with their rifles in a low ready rest position, none of the Councilmen looked impressed or even surprised, they just looked up for a moment, seemingly annoyed with the Colonel and his dramatic entrance's.

Minister of Finance Jan Schyler was one of the first men that he saw. The Minister has been occupying his position for the last twenty years, he warned that Helghan's war time boom would no longer be able to sustain the country in the years following the nation's victory, it was he that argued in favor for increasing trade with the Kingdoms. A stern, often irritated face accompanied with greying red, one could say auburn hair that seemed the healthiest in the room though it was thinning, with all things considering Helghast nobility, a slightly overly round belly that somewhat offended the Colonel's sight, only because he feared he'd be portly one day like the Minister, and a wife that could best be described as the type that would rip a Beowulf's balls off.

Though he was arguably the man that best understood the Helghast and Kingdom economies his opinions were often ties unpopular or downright shot down as "UnHelghast" by his more vocal opponents, like the Propaganda Minister Pieter Wouter. Minister Schyler wasn't a dumb or power-hungry man, he just wanted to see Helghan spend its money the right way, something the Colonel appreciated.

The Emperor sat at his seat, the largest chair of course, he looked like he had seen better days, Colonel Kratek and Admiral Orlock stood by his side, the Colonel had been personally monitoring and caring for the ailing Emperor for over seven years now. Of all things in the world, lung cancer ailed the Emperor, after years of leading the masses and breathing the same air they did, it was he that was afflicted by the wicked plague.

Mael took his spot at the Emperor's right-hand side, glowering at the Councilmen with his red eye pieces, though he technically had a position at the council such paper work of governance was not for the Colonel, the matters of Huntsmen Headmaster was far less stressful and paper filled, he was not envious of any of the men in front of him wearing their expensive suits, he knew damn well they enjoyed a glass of Brandy more often than they'd admit.

Visari stood from his seat, all Councilmen including the Colonel immediately stuck their left arms out, "Hail Visari!"

A smug grin overtook the Emperor's usually grim face as he motioned that the Councilmen were allowed to sit back down, Visari himself lowered back down into his chair, "Gentlemen, much needs to be discussed today, we shall begin with the most pressing of matters that we looove to talk about."

Several Council members groaned, one even lowered his head onto the table, Minister of Finance Schyler however stood up and pressed a button that brought up a pie chart. Mael saw where this was going, sometimes these debates would last for literal days as the Councilmen would pick up where they left of with their shouting matches by reading the recorded dialogue, no doubt reviewing to rebut their opponent's opinions or improve their own.

"My Emperor, my fellow Councilmen," Schyler started off, "changes must be made in how we distribute and spend our Marks. Apartment communes all over the island are reporting issues of heating and malfunctioning electrical systems. Romulus and Ares are facing the worst of these issues. Resources need to allocated from other budgets to-"

Councilmen left and right broke into outraged chattering and complaining, none of the men at the table seemed to want to believe what they were hearing, let alone even acknowledge the situation at hand, all except for Jorhan Stahl, he sat quietly with his hands at a steeple, watching the scene play out before him as he carefully plotted his words.

"Now hear me," Minister Schyler said slamming his flat palm on the table, silencing the noblemen momentarily, "it is imperative that these issues are fixed, Sectors Romulus and Mars have been without central heating for two months, people are having to wear winter clothing indoors, they nearly freeze to death in their showers, we are getting more reports daily from the hospitals that they are diagnosing more patients each day with pneumonia, which is putting even more of a strain on our health care."

"The health care is free, provided by the State." One Councilman interrupted.

Schyler rolled his eyes, "Under normal circumstances that statement would suffice, but these are not normal circumstances, it is an epidemic that is costing the State over forty-five million Helghan Marks a month to treat. I don't know about you sir, but would you like to tour a hospital there? Perhaps get a diagnosis, they ran so short on supplies they are having to boil and reuse needles!"

"This is ridiculous," Admiral Orlock spat, "when we were younger none of this was even an option. There was ice forming at the showerheads."

"With all due respect, Admiral," Schyler said trying to maintain composure, "unlike then we were not able to provide such services, as a result over a full two percent of Helghast died before reaching twenty, and if we want to continue building our population then we need to make conditions more liveable. Speaking of population, we need to talk about the Maternity awards."

Everyone seemed to pale at the mention of that program, even Colonel Radec groaned knowing what was to come.

A grim look came over Schyler's face as he brought up another chart concerning the ages of Helghast mothers collected through the mandatory state census, along with the number of children they had, "Nearly three point two billion Helghast Marks were distributed among the mothers of the population, each mother above the age of twenty five having born three Helghast children, this is simply unacceptable, they are being over paid. It is driving us closer to debt that could sink the nation all together."

The Councilmembers stared on in what seemed like stark horror, how was that possible? Helghan was a powerhouse, a land of industry and product, a power richer than either Kingdom from their north, so just how exactly were they supposedly on the edge of ruin, when things just seemed so good?

"The money being spent on the Maternity program, and our over spending with the military is pulling us deep into debt, while our older buildings that house large chunks of our population crumble, our health care system is two decades outdated by even the poorest Kingdomer hospital. We need to change the flow of money and our own business practices if we wish to see a full century, let alone a thousand years." Minister Schyler declared with a certain tone in his voice that declared this to be an ultimatum.

"What is it that you suggest, Minister?" Emperor Visari asked with very skeptical eyes.

Schyler cleared his throat, he took a breath of air fixing his tie, "I suggest transferring funds from programs that can spared funding, just two percent could be a good start but it will need to increase before new economic measures can be developed."

Again, the Councilmembers started chattering, some were even visibly uncomfortable with the idea as they more than likely feared that it might be a department they run that gets its funding no matter what size removed.

"Enough," Visari demanded, a glare from both the Emperor and his Hound kept the voices silent, "we will hear this out first before another word from either of you is said."

The Council sat silent, shooting daggers at Minister Schyler as he gave them a small smug grin, "Thank you my Emperor. The Ministry has tracked the flow of funding since it was first established, I reviewed the history of where the money flowed the most with thirty other colleagues and compared notes. We have determined that some minor cuts to programs that do not need every single mark would not affect their overall efficiency."

Schyler pulled a piece of folded paper from his coat's chest pocket and unfolded it, flicking out his reading glasses, "The Propaganda Ministry receives the highest amount of funds besides the Army, I, along with many others that specialize-"

"This is outrageous!" Propaganda Minister Pieter Wouter interrupted slamming his meaty gloved hand on the table, "the Propaganda Ministry is an important part of Helghan daily life, losing funding is not acceptable!"

Schyler rolled his eyes sighing, "Minister Wouter, its two percent of your massive bloody budget. That is well over two hundred million Marks in two percent, its frankly ridiculous your Ministry needs so much money to tell the people the same bloody thing every day!"

Wouter's red eyes shot sparks with Schyler's passive dull green, "We need that money to broadcast our messages every day, along with delivering the newspaper, home terminals aren't popular yet with their price!"

"Terminals are costly," Minister of the Private Sector Jorhan Stahl said with crossed arms, "holoterminals cost even more."

"Look, this two percent isn't effecting your broadcasting," Schyler said glaring down at Minister Wouter, "it might, might, affect your leaflet handouts. But let's be honest Wouter, most people just use them to heat their homes, they are unnecessary."

Minister Wouter scrunched up his face in a growl, "They need to be updated on State approved news bi-monthly!"

"Uh, isn't that what the HNN is for?" The Minister of Education Tzu Egor asked raising his hand slightly, "They broadcast daily, providing whatever message we tell them to broadcast, handing out flyers does sound pointless."

Wouter was at a loss of words as he hissed, "I guess it is acceptable then."

"Good," Schyler said nodding at the Minister of Propaganda, "then I believe we are all in agreement and the proper paperwork can be started. Secondly, what we could do is improve trading with the Kingdoms, we need to import to help bolster the economy."

"Importing Kingdomer goods!? Is it not shameful enough we had to tolerate their existence and export to Schnee!?" Wouter exclaimed turning a bright shade of angry red.

"We should've wiped them out!" A younger nobleman declared slamming his palm on the table.

"Why didn't just keep everything for ourselves? We could've easily kept Menagerie or Vacuo!" Another younger recently appointed noble demanded standing out of his chair.

"Sit down boy!" The Colonel hissed, his eye pieces flaring a brighter red, his figure twitching as his semblance activated for a second, "You do not speak about what you know nothing of!"

Every Councilman, including Minister Schyler stared with stark terror momentarily, they had rarely seen the Colonel react or even say a word in their meetings, so an outburst of rage was something that greatly unsettled them. Visari seemed a little bit surprised about the Colonel's outburst, it amused him to see the nobles turn pale but business needed to be conducted, he set a gloved hand on the Colonel's shoulder, "That is enough Colonel."

Mael bowed his head to Visari, a dangerous glare still stung at the noble as he tried to look anywhere else but at the Colonel, sweat pouring down his neck, "I am sorry for upsetting you, Colonel Headmaster Radec."

The Colonel crossed his arms, a low growl signifying he acknowledged the apology, he hated fools that claimed keeping those territories would've been easy, he wanted to complete his conquest, he still believed it was attainable even though it would've been hard, hell, half of those territories would've sufficed.

"Holding the territory was out of the question," Colonel Kratek said bringing up a map of the warzone in year three of their campaign.

All of Menagerie was under Helghast occupation, most of Vacuo was deep into the red, just bordering the capital. Vale was more in the hands of the Kingdomers, but MAWLRs appeared on the map, getting ready to make a push. Mistral was surrounded, its people proved very resilient, only on the borders of the ocean were there any noticeable gains. Atlas, Mimar, and Lantis were clear of the Helghast, much too far for an invasion but submarines appeared in the water.

"As you can see, our army was spread thin, we tried grasping too much too fast." Kratek said, pointing to the beaches of Mistral and then to the continents above Vytal, "Our supplies from the Homeland were thin, we resorted to converting some of their food to be more edible for the lower breeds, but ammunition was of lesser quality because we scavenged their guns. Then, unexpected problems arose. If I may, my Emperor? They are all here, and your daughter will need all the help she can get dealing with what lies north."

Visari closed his eyes, tapping his right index finger on the table, "I guess it is time you men knew the real reasons why we had to pull back."

Colonel Radec glanced down at his Emperor, his heart had skipped a beat, 'Real reasons?'

Kratek typed into his Helghast Scroll variant, pulling up a digital intelligence file. The Colonel opened the file and pulled up numerous pictures of what looked like Kingdomer women, only their eyes were glowing unnaturally, one had what looked like silvery white wings coming from her eyes.

"What in blazes-" Minister Schyler muttered as his eyes caught an imagine of a woman swiping with a weapon, the object she attacked was a tank, mid-disintegration of all things.

"Witches." Colonel Radec muttered, his lenses flaring once more, "there were more of them?"

"You knew about this?" Minister Egor asked, his face mixed with confusion and fear, "I never once heard a report about this my entire time cataloging the war!"

"For good reason," Admiral Orlock said, a grim look on his stony face, "these silver eyed witches could decimate men and armor with ease. A women of even greater power decimated a platoon, this so called Maiden, as Kingdomers call their kind, killed Metrac and his routine. The creature even took a MAWLR down, on her own."

The Councilmembers shuttered, a woman, a woman of unnatural power killed a hero of Helghan, his routine, and a MAWLR? A woman did that?

"From what I gathered from the Kingdomer legends, silver eyed warriors are powerful enough to even make the Grimm fear them," Kratek said as images of silver eyed Huntsmen slaughtered Grimm and Helghast alike, "the Maidens are apparently even rare and powerful, unlike anything we've ever seen. But then we found something more interesting."

The picture of what appeared to be a woman clad in a black cloak, Grimm eyes, and skin paler than that of a Helghast. She was flanked high level danger Grimm, in fact, she was stroking the cheek of a Beowulf. Dead Helghast soldiers lied before her and her demonic entourage, ripped to pieces, a Triad banner torn to shreds.

"This creature," Kratek said with a strange tone of interest in his voice, "controls Grimm from what we've gathered, we have spent resources trying to gather all we could, but we could never get close enough."

Emperor Visari pushed himself out of his chair, struggling to stand for a moment, "These beings made their appearance the further we pushed inland. For every one of our men they killed, fifty civilians took their place, eventually they started guiding our tanks. They didn't dare strike until there was nowhere else to retreat, their attacks still costed many men."

'I can't believe this,' Mael thought as he stared up at the images of the silver eyed witches tore through infantry, 'this is why we stopped. They had these beings yet used them so late, why?'

"The Kingdomers sued for peace," Visari continued, "they gave us wealth and resources to build the Helghan we know today, we released their lands and people we would've made slaves out of. They apparently keep these warriors in hiding, to fight the Grimm Witch as we'll call it, out of public eye, they used them out of desperation. This is why the Maternity awards started, this is why we spend so much in the military. Someday, we will avenge the Helghast they felled with their Witches, until then, we keep this veneer of peace. Not a word of this leaves the room, or your families will pay, all of you."

The Councilmen and Guards bowed their heads, speaking in unison, "Yes my Emperor!"

"Kratek, take these ghastly images down." Visari demanded gruffly, glancing at the Black Witch one last time.

The images disappeared in a flash, not a man on the Council said a word has the reality of their future seemed to sink in. Warriors existed in the Kingdoms with godly powers that greatly outmatched their infantry and armor, while this was a fact, the pressing matters revealed by Minister Schyler showed that if their ways of business did not change then Helghan was destined for ruin and further hardship.

All the while, their once great leader was ailing and in his twilight year, his daughter was still nowhere near ready for the daunting task of being the living manifestation of Helghast will like her father. Truly the times ahead were to be feared, Helghan's future was far from certain and it would take a strong leader, one of pure will and intellect to lead the island nation, someone with a heart made out of pure iron.

Minister of the Private Sector Jorhan Stahl believed himself to be that man. He believed that his vision was needed to replace the stagnancy of the Helghast leadership, he had been trusted to build Helghan's weapons, cloth its army, house and feed its people. Visari had even trusted him to help Kratek study this Witch phenomenon, though their attempts of capture failed they at least understood the bare basics of the Kingdomer myths.

Atlas had its army of trinkets, mere walking toasters that could be melted with disturbing ease, how foolish it was to trust the safety of your people to hackable robotic twigs with a fearfully basic AI. Helghan was wise enough to never trust such faulty software, machines were less used but present in the military, as well as his own private army.

While he appreciated Visari's role in Helghan's rise, he was no longer needed, poor Hera had no business taking up her father's mantle, no, she just wasn't worthy of it. Stahl knew that if he truly wanted the title of Emperor some men would have to die, unfortunately that meant finding a way to kill the most powerful warrior in the nation, his own friend admittingly, but he knew good ole Mael was just too stuck in the past with his collar fitting awfully snug.

Patience would be his mantra for now, his plan was far from ready, and in Schyler was right he'd have to keep this corpse of a government alive for just awhile longer, perhaps even earn points from the Council which he desperately needed if he wanted to wrestle control of the Empire.

"Onto less stressful news." The Emperor declared after glancing at the clock, his treatments for the cancer were drawing near, being late wasn't an option, "Radec, what news is there of our exchange students?"

The Colonel cleared his voice before addressing the Council, "I have received reports from Captain Asimov that my students received your message, all of them grateful that you took the time to speak to them. They received a mixed welcome from the Kingdomers, half positive, half protesting our presence."

Grumbling came from the Councilmembers, protesting, something expressly discouraged and outright outlawed in Helghan, so they weren't so hot on the whole idea of people protesting their presence.

"Later I received a report from the Headmaster of Beacon himself, telling me that they were behaving exceptionally well, he will be sending me reports every week on his own accord."

The Councilmembers seemed satisfied with this news as most were leaning back in their chairs, originally the idea of allowing students to attend the acclaimed international school was a very opposed topic, but after some convincing of potential benefits of cooled relations it simply had to be done. What better way to humiliate the Kingdomers than to send some of the strongest and smartest children that just so happened to be related to the most feared if not respected men of Helghan?

Stahl had even funded the venture out of his own pocket, he himself believing that if his son experienced the lesser beings of the world himself then he would surely abandon his silly notions of equality, he spent too much time reading Kingdomer propaganda on so called egalitarianism shoveled forth to bind Humankind and Faunuskind, such rubbish. Kratek was upset that his favored pupil would be out of his laboratory, even if he thought the boy's ridiculous notions were extremely silly, promise however, was shown through his intellect, promise he wanted to exploit.

If the race conversion therapy could be improved and convert the Faunus into sub-Helghast, then cheap slave labor was only a mere three hours away by boat, thirty minutes by aircruiser. Poor Antoine didn't even realize his true purpose, but Kratek did not care, if he could get the genius and not the boy he would be extremely pleased with no longer having to keep up the façade of wanting to help him achieve his foolish dreams.

The whole program was moving slower than Kratek liked, but Visari was still greenlighting it for now.

Admiral Orlock stared at Colonel Radec, there were many things he respected about the Colonel, one of them was that he was a fair man. The Admiral came up from the bottom much like Radec, he started out as a streetfighter that earned Visari's favor in the war for Helghan. He himself had no sons but he favored his nephew Eli Gruber, his step brother had been very vocal on how his boy would not be getting a free ride through the military, he was going to work his way up to the top if he wanted to be on the top, not ride on the Admiral's coattails.

That didn't stop the Admiral from arranging the resources for Eli to experiment on creating his weapons. So, when he found out about Mael's academy and how it accepted everyone who was willing to serve Helghan so long as they understood that their lives could end at any moment for any reason at all, be it low grades or uniform violation, he immediately appealed to Mister Gruber to allow his son to entertain the possibility of skyrocketing his future. Though he wasn't exactly comfortable that his nephew was overseas, thankfully he was in good company.

"Hopefully we'll be able to arrange better trade deals with the Kingdoms with this show of reasonability." Minister Schyler said as he tapped his fingers on his knee, anxious for the meeting to end, his wife had recently restricted his smoking habits at home, "That saving grace might be enough to get our economy out of stagnancy, I wouldn't bet all of our chips on it though. The percentage cuts I mentioned earlier are just a start, we will need to start talking about changing a few laws concerning business."

"I agree," Minister Stahl said, surprising more than a few people at the table, "the welfare of the people ought to come first before any new tax or law should be announced. The Private Sector would like to work with the Ministry of Finance on improving our domestic and overseas policies."

Minister Schyler seemed astonished that the man who ran the monopoly said such a thing, "Are you serious Minister Stahl?"

"Of course, I am serious, Stahl workers built those apartment communes back in the day, so it should only be fair that we improve on our product and fix what was left broken for so long and perhaps even develop better building strategies for our growing population to live comfortably in."

Colonel Radec narrowed his eyes at Stahl, just what exactly was he doing? Jorhan never cared about whether or not his men were comfortable working until the government made him care by threatening to seize his assets to cover the damage they caused rioting one year. He had known this snake long enough to know that he was just gaining the favor of Councilmembers, everyone excluding Orlock, Kratek, Stahl, and himself were noblemen, so it was understood it took a certain amount of charisma to gain their favor.

Orlock was one of those men with charisma, Kratek was a genius that supported slavery, an institution many councilors wanted to see return. Radec was a war hero, propaganda icon, and Visari's personal pet, his word carried weight. Stahl was just another man that earned his way to the top by being ruthless, he was probably the richest man in the country but leagues more tolerable than Jacques Schnee.

It didn't mean he trusted him at all, mutual friend or not, he was one of those power-hungry men that needed to be watched.

"That is very generous of you Minister Stahl," Schyler said, a somewhat suspicious look in his eyes, "I'll make sure my secretary contacts your secretaries with details."

"That will be fine." Stahl said taking his seat again.

Visari rose from his seat, sweeping his gaze over every Councilmember, "I am calling this meeting adjured, we shall convene again next month on the progress made from the cooperation of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Private Sector. Dismissed."

Many of the Councilmembers seemed eager to get out the door, some had idle chat with each other as they picked up their papers, brief cases and such. Minister Schyler already had a hand within his coats pocket, fishing out a cigar, he glanced at Colonel Radec, the look on his face and the small hand motion showed that he wanted to speak with the Colonel when he was free.

Mael being curious to what the Minister wanted nodded, but glanced down at Visari just as he was getting help from Colonel Kratek, before glancing back at Schyler. The Minister nodded and followed after the Councilmembers leaving the room, meanwhile Colonels Radec, Kratek, and Admiral Orlock followed the Emperor.

'This should be interesting.' Colonel Radec thought, 'I've never had a request for a private conversation from any Councilmember, let alone one with Schyler.'

"Ahh, damnit it all." Visari muttered as he pulled a handkerchief covered with red blood from his mouth, "All those damn years making speeches, it appears I should've followed your advice Radec and wore a damn mask in those factories and mines."

"No one could have foreseen this ailment, my Emperor." Colonel Radec said trying to assure his great leader.

"Except every doctor that came to me with their concerns," Visari said tucking the bloody rag away in his coat pocket, "I am getting too old for this anyway Radec, we all are. That is why the next generation needs to be prepared to take over our mantles."

"None of them seen too excited about it." The Colonel said following the Emperor to an office of his that connected to the main meeting room.

"I know that," Visari grunted rolling his eyes, "but they need to get over it. Helghan needs them to replace us. But tell me Colonel, how did the Kingdomers truly receive our men?"

"Very passive aggressive, as I said, half for, half against. The Headmaster, I believe, truly thinks we are changing or trying to change."

A grin came over the Emperor's face as he nodded his head, "No, he can't possibly be that naïve, he must be suspecting that we aren't showing the full picture, a man of his intelligence can't take us at face value."

Colonel Radec crossed his arms as he glanced at the paintings and photographs in Emperor Visari's office, "Oz more than likely doesn't, he truly trusts no one, but I know that he wants us to change."

Visari scoffed, popping open a bottle of bourbon resting in an ice bucket, he had out three glasses, Colonel Kratek wasn't fond of alcohol. The two subordinates took their glasses and clinked them together with Visari.

"To change." Visari said sarcastically.

"To change." Mael and Orlock said, taking a sip from their drinks.

"Hmph, change." Visari looked towards a map of Remnant on the map, his eyes going end to end, he reached his hand towards the map, "it was in our grasp. I will not see this become ours in this lifetime gentlemen, but I know that one day it will belong to Helghan, one day. Be it under Hera's rule or her children's rule."

He turned back towards the Colonels and the Admiral, "Gentlemen I place a lot of trust in the three of you, we built this nation from the ashes of a greater empire, from squalor, from poverty, the nation we know today is the fruit of our labor, it must not be lost."

The three other men in the room looked at the Emperor in a way they had never once seen him before, his usual aggressive appearance, he did not stand as if his spine was forge from iron, the glare of sternness and the usual glint of malicious plotting was replaced with something rather foreign.

He had genuine compassion in his voice, posture, and face, something that was shunned for weakness unbefitting of the Helghast breed.

"Hera is my sole heiress," He said swirling his drink around with his index finger, "she is my pride and joy, I have faith in her but the time is not right. I had hoped I would grow much older before my mantle would be pressed onto her, but that is not in our cards. At the time of my death, Admiral Orlock is to be anointed as Lord Regent of Helghan until Hera is at the right age to rule,"

The Admiral nearly dropped his drink, his eyes flickered in disbelief at the bold order from his Emperor, Colonel Radec looked between the two men in just as much disbelief, 'Just what in the hell is he doing?'

"Colonel Radec will be promoted to Major Field Marshall, and no you will not refuse that promotion Mael, my daughter needs a military advisor, not a warhero."

'Major Field Marshall?' This was wrong, that position was retired during the Emergence War, that rank held supreme power over offensive and defensive armies, it was removed because it could possibly conflict with the rule of the Autarch.

"These are my declarations for my will, it is in paper, in the computers, and now on holovid."

Colonel Radec wanted to kick himself for not noticing the recorder hanging from the wall, it was only the largest fucking thing in the room besides the portrait of Visari appealing to the then Helghast Senate, maybe he was getting too old.

"M-my Emperor," Orlock stammered, still reeling from the recent reveal, "I-I, I will do my best and guide your daughter until she is ready to take her rightful place."

"I know you will." The usual sternness returned to Visari's voice as his episode of compassion abruptly ended, "I know a true desk job is the last thing you want Mael, but with Orlock as Regent I need someone capable to focus all attention on offensive warfare and you are the best man for the position."

Colonel Radec saw no point in arguing with the Emperor, his mind was already decided, setting his drink to the side the Colonel did a full bow, bending at the waist, "Your will shall be done my Emperor."

Visari now satisfied that his top men understood their roles in the future of Helghan he brushed aside a few files on his desk, grimacing at the paperwork, "You men are now dismissed to go about your usual jobs, I have to deal with the oh so glorious task of reviewing these speeches and decrees before Kratek gives me my treatments."

"Hail Helghan, hail Visari!" Both the Admiral and Colonel Radec said doing the usual salute.

Neither Admiral nor Colonel spoke as they left Visari's office, both men were too absorbed in the newfound weight on their shoulders, an awesome responsibility to Emperor and nation, the salvation of their people's future was now within their hands.

"Major Field Marshall Radec." Orlock said breaking the silence, "It doesn't roll off the tongue very well."

The Colonel crossed his arms, "Neither does Lord Regent Orlock."

"Hmmm," The Admiral rubbed his eyelids and yawned, "we are getting too old for this shit Radec."

"You heard his orders," Mael responded dryly, "we need to make sure she is ready for the Throne. How do we intend to do this Orlock?"

The Admiral nodded, cracking his neck with a groan, "I know that, I'm not senile. Yet. Do me a favor and kill me if I get to that point, but building a tutoring program for an Empress isn't exactly normal."

"Normal is a state of mind Admiral, expect the unexpected." Colonel Radec said with a sigh, "If you don't mind Admiral, it appears Schyler wants to speak with me."

The Admiral frowned seemingly confused, "What on Remnant does he want to talk about with you?"

"That is what I am going to find out." The Colonel said as his personal guard formed up behind him in their usual formation, but before they could start following them he ordered the Lieutenant to lead the squad back to the convoy, that some personal business had to be conducted, the men did not argue as they left to do as they were told.

As the Colonel left through the main door of the chamber to follow Schyler a female secretary stood waiting for him with a file clutched against her side, "If you would follow me Colonel, Minister Schyler is waiting just outside."

The Colonel activated his cloaking tech before moving a step further, "Lead the way."

Not another word was exchanged, the secretary walked through the halls with purpose, avoiding members of the newly forming crowd as lunch time was being called for the nonessential staff and interns, the actual workers would be called after them but not for another hour, if there was anyone trying to tail the secretary then they'd certainly have a hard time doing it now.

Radec however wasn't having a hard time, looking down from the rafters and chandeliers made it easy to track the secretary, then again not everyone in Helghan had a short range teleporter in their suit, thankfully no one ever looked up otherwise they'd have a heart attack seeing the giant aesthetic light pieces trembling every now and again.

Thankfully the front entrance of the building was less crowded, now the Colonel could just walk behind the secretary versus wasting the suits energy by teleporting whilst cloaked, otherwise his teleporting tech would burn out the battery his cloaking shared, thus revealing him to whoever was watching.

Schyler was sitting on the marble steps next to a Helghast monument of a visibly Visari leading several Helghast revolutionaries during his rise to power, it was exaggerated of course, Visari himself did not lead any charges, he was far too important and Radec would instead take his place in leading from the front.

In one hand the Minister had a lit fat cigar, one he puffed on as his secretary approached with Colonel Radec, in his other was a half-eaten sandwich, from what Radec could see it was made out of salami and fresh lettuce, both were overpriced food luxuries straight from the bio-domes under Sector Ceres, where Kingdomer crops and livestock were cultivated for the newer generations of the upper class Helghast to get a taste for.

"Thank you for bringing the Colonel miss Halen, take a seat so I don't look like I'm talking to myself." The Minister said as he took a bite from his sandwich.

Colonel Radec watched the secretary take a seat on the steps just as she was ordered, she opened up the folder she had been carrying and pretended to write something down with a capped pen. The Colonel however was surprised to see it was a file with Stahl's picture in it along with what looked like an inquiry on his finances.

"My wife doesn't like me smoking in the house, she and the doctor have been nagging me on my smoking and eating habits," The Minister said examining his cigar, "so I tell them that I did not march three hundred miles in the goddamn desert, avoiding bandits and Kingdomers alike, nearly getting my arse shot or court-martialed so I can deliver information about troop movements to General Lente just so that I can't enjoy my smokes and drink at home. Don't get me started on what they say about my cholesterol-"

"What do you want Minister?" Radec interrupted, "I have an academy to run."

The Minister looked up where he heard the Colonel's voice with a grim look, "Minister Jorhan Stahl is committing embezzlement and I suspect he will commit treason."

"Choose your words carefully," Radec threatened as his eyepieces nearly shown through his cloaking tech, "that is a dangerous accusation."

Schyler took another puff of his cigar glancing at the setting sun, "I know it is, which is why I asked you to come here, I don't have enough evidence to do anything other than to start rumors but his finances are concerning."

"Five hundred thousand Marks up and disappear bi-monthly, usually this is the amount of money used to pay for factory workers in the weapons factories, but two years ago Minister Stahl replaced his manual labors in his weapons factories with machine workers," Haken said as she read off a financial report, "meanwhile a few of our agents within Stahl's company have reported a rise in his private army, but they have not reported the rise of men within the ranks to the Helghast Council."

Colonel Radec frowned, that wasn't right, Stahl was to report any and all changes in his private security no matter how minor, even if they change the style of gas mask it was to be reported directly to Visari himself, 'Damnit Jorhan, what are you doing?'

"It should also come to your attention that he has been spotted with other Councilmembers, and that their finances have also changed drastically. You know what this suggests, Colonel." Schyler said glancing back at the Colonel's hidden form from the corner of his eye, "We can't trust other members of our government now. I called you here because even though we may have different opinions of how our Empire should be ran we both are loyal to the Emperor and the people, not to our wallets."

"I only hope that you'd pass this information on to Emperor Visari, or in the least see for yourself that things are not as they seem," Minister Schyler finished his sandwich and stamped out his cigar, "I bid you good day Colonel Radec."

As the Minister stood to leave his secretary set her file aside on the steps, no doubt expecting Colonel Radec to take it and review it in private so that he could make up his mind on the matter instead of just taking the Minister's word. Schyler's loyalty to the Empire was one Radec could not question, his ambitions were to better serve Helghan and her people, his career showed it.

Stahl being a traitor though? That's a tough pill to swallow, sure he vocally shared his opinion no matter how controversial, but treason? A coup? For the years they had known each other he hadn't suspected that Stahl would let his ambitions lead him down such a path, if what this file says is true, that Stahl is plotting a coup to over throw the Emperor and his rising dynasty, all in a bid to rule over Helghan.

Then he'd have to go through the Hound first.

* * *

Beacon Academy…

"Oi, Sobie." Eli Gruber called from his bed, the large Helghast commando in training had one of his duffle bags slung across his back, "I'm gonna fire off a few rounds, wanna tag along?"

The younger White Death looked up from his half lying down on his bed, half on the floor, his boots neatly sat next to the head of his bed, "Fock off ya twat, I'm not moving from this spot."

Eli rolled his eyes, Cobar could be the laziest fuck at times, its frankly a miracle he survived Radec Academy's entrance exams in the first place, let alone survive the tests of physical and intellectual prowess of its students. Maybe it was because he was one of the more ultra-violent combat students that showed immense potential in close combat, or it was because he was great at bullshitting.

No matter the case, Eli wanted to fire off some bullets to see if any sights needed tweaking, or if the transformation gears need oiling, plus, being on a damn boat for so long without being able to fire off a few potshots? A gunnut needed to indulge in his guilty pleasure if he was to go about his day normally.

The giant left his dorm room firmly locking the door, just as he was going to turn down the hall he spotted his team leader walking with a girl in white, "Yo boss."

Koza nodded to the commando, "Hey Eli, going shooting?"

"Yeah, Sobie is inside, being lazy, so I gonna shave off a few rounds." Eli looked down at the girl in white, "Who's your friend?"

"Weiss Schnee," The girl said doing a curtsy, "I was Koza's friend when we were kids."

"Ohhh," Eli said nodding his head, "yeah, I member him talking about you before we got here, says you're the only one here that respects our people. A friend of Koza is straight with me."

"Well, we don't want to keep you around any longer, go on and shoot for as long as you like, just be back for the curfew." Koza said as he went around Eli.

"Got it boss," Eli bowed his head towards Weiss, "Lady Schnee."

Using the handy dandy little computer thing, whatever the old man called it before, it had a good layout of the school, narrowing his search down to the room he wanted to go to wasn't even that difficult, even if it did take a second to translate the words into Helghast symbols.

Eli hummed the Hellmarch to himself as he marched down the hall with his boots squeaking against the floor every now and again, he was unaware however of the small caped girl poking her head around the corner, silently following him.

Ruby had overheard the words rounds and shoot from the hallway and immediately went out the door to figure who was shooting what, and much to her pleasant surprise it was one of the Helghast going out to test his weapons out at the firing range in the school.

She wanted to see it for herself.

As Eli entered the corridor leading into the firing range, Ruby stealthily approached the very same pathway and as she turned her face smacked right into the taller Helghast's gut, she wrinkled her nose and looked up sheepishly seeing she was clearly caught, "H-hi Eli."

"What 'cha doing following me little Human?" The larger boy asked as looked down.

Ruby poked her index fingers together with sweat running down the back of her neck, "Well, you see... I overheard that you were going to shoot some guns and well, I'm a bit of a nerd for guns."

Eli shook his head as if caught off guard, "Wait, wot? You like guns?"

"Yes!" She replied excitedly, "Guns are awesome!"

"They let you shoot guns?" He asked wearingly.

Ruby smirked crossing her arms, trying to look cool leaning against the wall, "Pssh, of course, I'm a Huntress in training after all."

Eli scratched the back of his head still apparently confused, "I didn't really think Koza and everyone was telling the truth, I thought they were just mocking you Kingdomers."

Ruby's ears perked at this, "What do you mean?"

"Well," The large Helghast seemed to hesitate for a moment, "about them actually letting women be Huntsmen, or fighting period as the norm and not for special individuals. I think Koza said sumptin about some sorta sorority being added to a wing in the academy, I wasn't listen because I thought it was a silly idea."

The little Huntresses face sparked bright red and she puffed her cheeks, "Hey! I can handle myself better than some of the boys here, especially Jaune! Oops, don't tell him I said that. I bet I could even carry your bag!"

A devious grin came over the Helghast boy's face as he held the duffle bag out, "You sure about that?"

"Positive!" Ruby slung the bag over her shoulder and held it, for a second before being pulled to the ground suddenly from the weight, "UGH!"

Taking a moment to appreciate the little Human's funny but fruitless attempts of pulling herself up with the bag Eli decided he had enough fun and pulled both Ruby and his bag up, he separated the two and slung the pack back on his shoulders, "It was a good try, I got a lotta stuff in 'ere."

"So can I see your guns? I'll let you see mine!" Ruby asked with both hands together, "Please!"

"You have a gun then? Where is it?" Eli asked, he noticed at the last second that there was a rectangular object on her back, "Is that it?"

In a flash Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose in her full glory, "This is my sniper scythe Crescent Rose! She's a fully customizable high impact sniper scythe that I built myself."

Eli dropped his bag as he squinted at it, "Hello beautiful~"

Ruby's cheeks flushed a bright red, rivaling her cape until she realized that the Helghast was talking about her weapon, "Yeah, so what do you have?"

The large Helghast boy chuckled deeply as he knelt down and patted his bag, "Lil Human, I got a bunch of stuff. Let me get sometin."

Curiously Ruby peaked over Eli's shoulder as he pulled out something that made her bright silver eyes turn into stars, "Is that a StA -52!?"

"Damn roight it is," Eli said as he held the rifle in a low rest position, "my Dad don't know it but my Uncle got me this brand spanking new one roight off the shelves fresh. Wanna hold it?"

Immediately her eyes bugged, she was jumping up and down like an excitable school girl, which she was, with her hands open, "Yes please!"

Grinning ear to ear amused with the girl's enthusiasm he held out the assault rifle, "Here you go."

Almost immediately Ruby starts checking the upper receiver of the assault rifle, brushing her fingers over the dust cover of the ejection port, and even the sights themselves, "What kind of round does it use!? Does it have selective fire!? What's the fire rate!? Can it turn into a sword!? How accurate is it to how many miles!? Are you planning to modify it in any way and can I help please!?"

Strangely enough in the large Helghast boy's eyes heavenly light shown down upon Ruby, angelic voices sang in grand praises as the air around the girl seemed to sparkle and his heart started beating in a very strange rhythmic way.

Waifu might as well have been written on a billboard.

"I like you." Was the only thing the damn lumbering buffoon managed to speak in a somewhat intelligent matter.

Ruby brushed some hair out of the way with a firm red tinge on her cheeks, "Wanna be friends?"

"Sure thing Ruby," Eli said patting her shoulder, nearly knocking her to the ground, "lets go shoot shit!"

"Language!" She chided pointing her little finger at his masked face.

"Oh, sorry, stuff, lets shoot stuff."

* * *

Alright, after writing some smut with Uncle WAAGH, here we go with another Helghan's Reach story that shows some insight that not all is well in the Empire of Helghan, that everything that our boys have said should not be taken at face value, like with Antoine, did people seriously believe everything that he said? Poor boy is too trusting of Kratek, he legitimately believes that he is doing the right thing. I don't have this because of a few reviews, this was always in the works but as I have said I am slow when it comes to producing things for people to read, it takes time to get plot out while world building without it being a main focus for the story. I know some are going to complain about Visari, I just know it, all we saw of him in the games was a one sided one dimensional portrayal of a truly interesting character, he isn't a good guy, no he's a fucking asshole, but he does care about his legacy, his daughter and country.

I'm not going to reveal what's up with Cameilla, the Huntress Radec captured at the start of the last chapter.

Minister Jan Schyler is a Helghast version of a man that greatly opposed totalitarianism and is most famous for leading Britain against the Nazis in WW2, Sir Winston Churchill, it is referenced with his appearance and even military history, extra points to whoever figured that out while reading. His character, while ironic, is admittingly a minority in Helghan, unlike many others he does not simply nod his head like a yeas man he calls shit out because the way Helghan is going is unsustainable with their current policies and genuinely believes that Helghan needs to reform to survive.

Though I did not all of the sudden come up with the economic turmoil, I'm giving a shoutout to a story called "Storm front: Twilight of the Gods" which saw a ailing Nazi Germany in 1985 on the verge of collapse, I suggest finding it because its an awesome read. I of course do not claim any rights to that story, I am simply promoting it as a good read to look up.

Well, that's all I got on my mind at midnight, Doomsdayguy12345 out!


	5. Chapter 5

Vale News Network…

Staff and technical crew members darted left and right as light fixtures and cameras were arranged to cover several angles of view, staying out of sight of each other and finding concentration on two chairs arranged in forty five degree angles, a table was set between both chairs with a picture of water and two glasses. Three rows of audience members had seats behind the camera crews, they whispered and murmured amongst themselves as they patiently waited for the show to start.

Lisa Lavender walked to her seat as two interns helped to powder her face all the while she read through several flash cards, her questions for this morning's special guest on VNN. The arrival of the Helghast students aroused a great debate amongst not only the regular citizenry but amongst the celebrities, intellectual and political elites over the potential ramifications and possible outcomes of this change in Helghast foreign policy.

An intern with a clipboard and headset lead a man wearing an overcoat and trilby hat, once lead to his chair the man removed his coat and folded it over his left forearm, she kept herself from gasping as the man removed his hat and she could plainly see his most prominent features.

Bald pale head, red flesh around his sunken eyes, thin lips set into a near natural frown.

She had always heard stories of defectors on both sides, but a Helghast defector in the war was rare, one still alive after all these years was near mythical, yet here he sat. Lisa knew this man wasn't much older than her, but something about the Helghast man just made him seem so much older, his baldness and wrinkles from frowning did not help him in that case.

Uncharacteristically for his kind, he managed a small smile as he reached his hand out, "Good morning Miss Lavender, I'm Professor Hakha."

Lisa forced a smile as she met his hand, "Thank you for joining us mist- Professor Hakha. Our broadcast should begin shortly…but between you and me, are you really a-"

"Halfbreed?" He asked neutrally, "Yes, but my Helghast traits as you can see are far more pronounced."

"Ah, I see." She said awkwardly as the air grew somewhat tense with anxiety on Lisa's part.

The Producer behind the cameras held up his right hand counting down, "We're on five, four, three…"

Lisa closed her eyes straighten herself out as Hakha sat firm and silent, his eyes drifted towards the many staring cameras, he even caught eyes with a few of the curious stage hands, along with a few spiteful looking side glances from the Human and Faunus audience members.

The Reporter opened her eyes and stared past the cameras towards the crowd, "Good afternoon to all, this is Lisa Lavender reporting to you live from inside Vale News Network to bring you a special interview with a very special guest. A veteran of the Helghast Emergence War that defected from the Helghast Empire to aid in the defense of the Kingdoms. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Professor Gregor Hakha of Haven Academy."

A few members of the crowd clapped awkwardly as a camera panned to them, they were a mix of scornful glares, curious stares, some seemed genuinely interested in hearing the Professor to speak.

Unfazed the Professor Hakha nods towards Lisa and the cameras, "Thank you for inviting me."

Lisa drew a quick almost unnoticeable breath, "Now, Professor Hakha, many wonder how a, well-"

"Helghast." Hakha finished in a polite tone.

"Yes, a Helghast, many in the Kingdoms are very curious as to why you defected from the Helghast military, especially when you held the rank of Colonel in the arguably most powerful army in the world. Why do that when you could've stayed on Helghan's side?"

Hakha took a moment to glance at the audience members, he ignored the scornful stares and instead sought out the ones that seemed like they had the ability to house an open mind, "I was never one of them. Not only did I not share in some insane idea of world conquest, I did not share in the racial purity of Visari's vision, I myself am a halfbreed, half Human, half Helghast."

"I see," Lisa said as she tried to gauge the audience's reaction, the curious ones seemed even more curious and the scornful ones looked disgusted, "was growing up as a halfbreed on Helghan hard, did it provide any negative ramifications in the military and National Party?"

"I grew up in the Depression, Mantle's Remnants reigned then, halfbreeds and Helghast were seen as mutants before the Human elite, even the rich Helghast were scorned by them. A painful reoccurring trait of Humankind." The Professor ignored the boos and hissing from the Human audience members, the Faunus ones however seemed to connect with him on that level, "But as I grew into being a young man, things changed, sectors rebelled, and a man rallied all of the poor underneath his banner. Visari's Revolution began."

Professor Hakha poured himself a glass of water and held it, his eyes concentrating on his reflection for a moment, "My brother and I were among the few people that didn't necessarily fit in on either side, we were tired of starving in gutters under Mantlean rule, but we also thought Visari was a madman. Given how dire our situation was we picked Visari rather than face the mob's wrath."

His eyes briefly met Lisa's as he brought the cup to his lips, "That's when things took a turn for the worse."

The audience members mumbled to each other at the vague use of words the Professor used.

"Visari's armies triumphed, and upon a grand stage he asked for ten years of power to do what it takes to revive Helghan as a world power, and ten years he received. In ten years his brutish commissars struck down his opposition, in ten years the artist's brush painted what Visari wanted, in ten years the musician played to his toon, in ten years speaking out against him got you nothing more than a bullet, if you were lucky, otherwise it was the work camps for you."

Lisa blinked as did the audience, they wouldn't have expected the Professor to speak with such venom for the Emperor of Helghan, "That was only the start of it. Once he was certain that there were no other rivals, he unleashed Cobalus Pistris Eldritch, his mission was to wipe out the last of the non-pure Helghast."

Even the scornful members of the audience seemed somewhat bothered to say the least that Professor Gregor claims genocide was practiced on Helghan, "The Mantleans were first, then there came the halfbreeds loyal to them, finally Eldritch came for those unlucky enough to be impure Helghast. No records of my family existed, my brother and I looked too pure to be even considered as halfbreeds, my father was lucky he was sick enough to pass as Helghast. Everyone else was butchered and buried."

"After that, it was assumed that every halfbreed was killed."

Lisa quickly wiped a tear threatening to roll down her cheek, "These…these are very harrowing claims Professor Hakha, but is there any way to prove them?"

"Sadly, there are none, it's just my word. The Helghast Council was very thorough in destroying any and all evidence relating to the genocide."

None in the audience said a word, the air grew thick at the unexpectant dark turn of this interview, Lisa Lavender cleared her throat as she glanced down at a card, "Given this very violent past, do you think it is possible for the Helghast and Kingdoms to live together in harmony?"

Gregor glances up at Lisa with a blank stare, "No, not any time soon. As long as the regime stays with its current leadership you can be certain that harmony will be a far cry, this gesture does not fool me one bit. I know Visari too well, he will say he wants peace, but in reality, he is simply biding his time."

"Do you believe these exchange students might be used as spies for the Helghast?" Lisa asked as the cameras zoomed in on Professor Hakha's face.

"If they are spies then they are the most obvious ones there are," Professor Hakha chuckled dryly, "these boys are merely a means to show that the newest generation of Helghast are strong and loyal. I have no doubt that they are skilled if they came from Colonel Radec's Academy, especially his son. You see, in Helghast society the noble-born aren't necessarily pampered, they are rigorously trained and tested to be the best lest they face disownment or death. It's the strongest that not only survive, but lead."

"Will you be making any efforts to meet these Helghast students?" Lisa asked curiously.

Hakha crossed his legs leaning back into his chair, "I will not seek them out nor would I purposely avoid them. If our paths cross then they pass, but I wouldn't expect they'd much like to see me."

Lisa glanced over Hakha's shoulder and saw that they only had a minute left, "Professor Hakha, so you wouldn't say that the Kingdoms should put less money into the ISA now that relations with Helghan seem to be improving?"

"No, absolutely not," He said as if the funds themselves were in jeopardy, "the International Strategic Alliance if anything needs to be on its guard more now than ever. This is a pinnacle and dangerous moment, any show of weakness from the Kingdoms at all could signal to Visari that the time for a new war is near. It is better to be safe than sorry. The Island of Vekta needs more fortifications to properly safe guard Vale and Vacuo from another naval invasion."

The reporter cleared her throat and smiled to the Professor and audience, "Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and join us for today's broadcast professor, it was…very informative and enlightening."

"It was my pleasure." Professor Hakha said bowing his head.

"Thank you all for joining us today, this is Lisa Lavender signing off."

The cameras powered down as stage hands directed the audience towards the exits, Lisa Lavender and Professor Hakha however remained seated as the reporter used a tissue to dab away tears that were starting to fall down her face, "How could they do such a thing, to their own people no less?"

Professor Hakha sighed rubbing his eyes, "That is a question I've never been able to understand. Dividing and conquering is Visari's favorite tactic. But enough of that, I'm sorry that I must cut our time short, but I made a date that I can't ignore."

"Another interview with a news agency?"

Gregor nodded his head with a thin smile on his lips as he showed his ring finger, "No, I promised my wife I'd take her somewhere nice for lunch."

The reporter sat with a look of shock, "You're married?"

"Heh, I know it sounds strange, but yes I am. Though I lost everything when I defected from Helghan my life did not simply end, much to Visari's ire no doubt. Farewell miss Lavender."

Covering his baldness with the trillby hat and cloaking himself in his coat, Professor Hakha left the reporter as silently as he entered. His words haunted the seasoned reporter, Helghan was never a popular subject and neither was its people. She believed however if there were more men like Gregor Hakha then perhaps the Helghast would get along with the Kingdoms.

Yet from what he inferred, that was unlikely.

* * *

Beacon Academy...

"Well…this is my dorm." Weiss said as she leads Koza into the dorm room she shared with two obnoxious teammates and one thankfully quiet and tempered one.

The Helghast boy took in the room with his own eyes, the eyepieces of his mask were deactivated, giving a somewhat menacing appearance to his eyes as he squinted at the decorations and the beds themselves with minor foreign confusion.

Weiss stealthily kicked a pair of panties belonging to a certain buxom blonde into the dirty clothes hamper, hoping Koza hadn't seen the undergarments, "Sorry if it's a bit messy, those girls can't pick up after themselves at times."

"Didn't you say you had a bottom bunkbed?" He asked pointing at both beds, "these are dreadfully unsafe."

The Heiress nodded scratching the back of her neck, "They aren't that dangerous, they're pretty secure."

Suddenly the Helghast boy grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes as he whispered lowly, "But how can we make passionate love without being crushed?"

Weiss deadpanned as her eyes grew to the size of saucers, her face grew so red it was a wonder if she wasn't part tomato, "Wha-WHAT!?"

Her face turned more indignant as Koza slapped his knee laughing with an outrageous volume, Weiss clenched her fists and started beating on his chest piece, "YOU JERK!"

The grin on Koza's face was one that could be described as childish in nature, he always found entertainment in lightheartedly teasing the Heiress of his dreams, for such a high society girl filled with pride of her conservative behavior she had easy buttons that could be pushed.

"You can be such a jerk at times!" She growled, her fists ached with little to show for her arduous work of pummeling the very hard piece of armor Koza wore, so she crossed her arms and gave a 'Hmph!' to her totally not boyfriend.

Koza poked and prodded her sides to no avail, Weiss wasn't ticklish when angry, so he instead started to peck her exposed collar, his hand groping along her waist gently as his teeth grazed her skin, "I'm sorry."

Weiss stuck her nose up to make it clear that she was still upset by Koza's little joke, but her shivering whenever his lips and teeth met her skin was making her consider the implications that the bed would have, WOULD HAVE, if they decided to shed off a few layers and got acquainted with each other more intimately.

That thought was hushed away when the sound of footsteps coming down the hall sent the Heiress into a panic, "Quick! Act like a Helghast emissary!"

Immediately Koza's eyepieces went back into place, shimmering red with their activation, he stepped away from Weiss with both hands behind his back. Weiss had made sure to wipe her neck off, so no one would see the saliva marks where Koza kissed her just moments prior, she took a moment to compose herself and start a conversation with Koza as if they had already been in one before the door opens.

"As you can see the Achievemen are a very popular band in the Kingdoms, though their music isn't really my kind- oh," She stopped almost naturally as two of her teammates entered the room, "Koza, these are my teammates. Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, girls, this is my friend Koza Radec."

The girls in question stared at the tall Helghast boy in their room, neither said a word as Koza looked down at them. He had a feeling that since his uniform bore a striking resemblance to his father's everyone immediately thought of the Hound himself was present instead of his young son, it didn't help that they stood the same height either, his father however was still leagues above him in strength.

Smiling behind his mask he reached out his hand, offering it to either girl, "Good afternoon, Weiss has told me much about your team and your adventure at the initiation."

Yang was the first one to accept the handshake, "That's nice, did she tell you how she fell from that Nevermore's talon?"

Weiss shot the busty blonde a nasty look as Koza chuckled glancing back at Weiss, "She must've glossed over that part."

Blake was the next one to shake Koza's hand, unlike her partner she didn't have much to say to the Helghast boy other than he was welcome to Beacon, his head however tilted as he held his stare with her, "Have we met before? I don't know how but your name is very familiar, and I feel like I've seen you before."

Anxiety rushed through the Faunus girl as she racked her brain with reasons for the Helghast exchange student to possibly know her, Weiss and Yang also seemed confused by Koza's statement of having known Blake when they previously believed that Koza had only known Weiss and her family. Koza himself could barely recall on how he knows this girl, but something about the name Belladonna, her eyes, and that strange bow decoration seemed very familiar.

He shook his head giving a dry chuckle to play off his confusion, "You must have a Helghast doppelganger because I could swear that I've seen you before. Well, I better get back to my dorm, Sobieski without a leash around his neck is a poor oversight that the Empire can't afford at this stage."

The Faunus in hiding was more than relieved that Koza decided to drop the subject, she wasn't sure if Weiss had told Koza everything about their past adventures so far, they had after all just gotten over their own problems with her Faunus heritage and the absolute last thing she wanted to do was repeat the experience with a Helghast.

"Ladies," Koza said doing a short bow towards Blake and Yang, he turned and gave a deeper one to Weiss, crimson eyepieces meeting icy blue, "Lady Schnee."

Weiss kept her features neutral as she curtseyed towards Koza, in an instant he cloaked himself from sight and left the room, to the Schnee girl it wasn't too odd but Yang and Blake seemed somewhat spooked that the seven foot tall Hig disappeared into thin air.

"That is so creepy," Yang said waving her hand in the air to make sure Koza wasn't still there, "I mean he could just sneak in a girl's changing room if he wanted to."

The Heiress resisted the urge to cross her arms, the very nerve of Yang to accuse Koza of such a thing…though now she wanted to put a tracking chip on his suit now just to be sure. Blake, it seemed was lost in thought as she racked her brain trying to remember an instance where she could've met a Helghast let alone The Hound's son, she just couldn't place it at all.

"Weiss," The raven-haired Faunus asked, "you didn't tell him about my ears, did you?"

"No, I didn't." Weiss said squeezing her eyes shut with obvious frustration, "He's a good friend and all but you did ask to let only a few people know. Koza and his father aren't like the other Helghast when it comes to race, but I don't think he'll like keeping secrets from his team, so I just didn't tell him."

Blake sighed with relief, "Thank you."

"Soooo, how weird was that? Are you sure you've never met him before shake n' Blake?" Yang asked giving a wink at her partner with her very unfunny quip.

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose, "I really don't know, it'd have to be a long time ago if I did and I wouldn't even know why."

The door flung open as Ruby Rose ran into the room holding up a holstered pistol, "Guys! Guys! I made a new friend! That Eli guy even let me have this StA-18 as a gift!"

"What!?" All three of her teammates asked in complete shock, the mere fact someone as socially awkward as Ruby was able to make a new friend so quickly was strange enough, but the fact it was one of the Helghast students seemed incredible to say the least.

"It turns out that Eli is a real big weapon nerd like me, we shot off a few rounds in the armory and he even let me use one of his assault rifles, it was so cool!" The little Huntress in training gushed as she hugged the holstered pistol like it was a puppy, "I even let him try out Crescent Rose!"

Yang's jaw nearly detached from her mouth, "No way, you let someone try out Crescent Rose?"

Ruby rapidly nodded her head, "Yesyesyes! He said that it was a beautiful weapon and he wanted to be friends!"

"Huh." Weiss was at a loss of words, she always believed the Radecs to be something special because of how they treated people, though now with the reveal of a Helghast like Eli seemed to suggest a strange idea of Helghan's society becoming steadily less xenophobic.

"He's so nice, we even talked about working on a few weapons together!" Ruby said with a gleam in her eyes that resembled a shimmering starlit sky.

Yang patted Ruby's shoulder smiling at her little sister, "I'm so proud of you Rubes! If you can make friends with the Helghast, and Weiss-"

"Hey!"

"-then you can make friends with anyone!"

"I thought the Helghast would be mean like that Sobie guy Eli was talking about," Ruby admitted with a slight tinge in her cheeks, feeling somewhat ashamed by her mild bigotry, *very warranted though*, "Antoine even sounds nice. Eli says he gets picked on for being nice."

"I overheard him in the library, speaking to Coco and Velvet," Blake said, "he was talking about creating a converter to turn non-Helghast into Helghast. It seems farfetched, but he even went on to suggesting mutating all three races into one."

That most certainly came as a shock to Weiss Schnee, Koza and this Eli were strange enough, but this Antoine Stahl just blew her mind out of the water, the very notion itself was outlandishly strange but since it came from a Helghast of one of the most prominent families of the Empire was even stranger.

"That Sobieski guy is really the only Helghast acting like well, as we expected." Yang said falling back onto Weiss' bed, "I want to clean his clock with a good ole one two buckle my shoes."

"He was kind of mean, but he might've been cranky about living on the boat." Ruby said as she placed her new pistol behind her pillow, "Hey Blake, Yang, do you guys want to talk with Eli? I think he's still shooting off rounds."

"Sure." The raven-haired Faunus said, she was awfully curious to meet the Helghast that could call Ruby a friend.

"Nah, I'm just going to laze back here." Yang said with her head craning up from Weiss's bed to look at Ruby.

Blake was the first to leave as Ruby held the doorknob, "Okay, see you guys later!"

Once left alone with the Heiress in the solitude of the dorm room Yang propped her elbows on the bed and grinned at Weiss with a smug grin, "Soooooooo, where did you get those little bite marks from?"

Weiss's eyes nearly popped from her skull, she quickly pulled a mirror from her drawer and to her horror was little red teeth marks where Koza had been kissing her, with a deep sigh she turned to face the blonde that was now hunched forward with her elbows on her knees, grinning madly.

"Just a friend, eh?" Yang asked as Weiss blushed, "Details, explicit details."

* * *

Atlas, unspecified military base…

Ever since the Helghast Emergence War ended there had been much debate on whether the Kingdoms would be able to survive such a devastating and savage war like it again, the technology the Helghast possessed at the time was far superior to anything Vale, Vacuo, and even Atlas possessed. Given the distance from Atlas to Helghan it was plainly seen why the Kingdom was the least scarred from the war itself, it also gave them the opportunity to test and improve their weaponry and resources.

Today the Kingdom of Atlas had the ability to rival the Helghast Empire, perhaps if coordinated properly with the other Kingdoms they might've even been able to go on the offensive instead of continuously staying on the defense. Even though they technically weren't at war as of now they still competed with technology.

Some Helghast might even appear every so often where they shouldn't be but on the insistence of the Helghast Council these men were just criminal exiles more than likely acting as mercenaries for a third party, the Kingdom used a similar excuse whenever an Atlesian was found near Helghan's waters.

Activity from Helghan was monitored with precision, though their scanners couldn't see movement on the island itself they could see sea and air traffic. They had eyes on the Helghast emissary ship that dropped off their students in Vale, much to Atlas' distinct protest of allowing a gunboat anywhere that far into Kingdomer domain.

General Ironwood had seen firsthand the kind of carnage one of those boats could do, but he trusted Ozpin's word on the matter and begrudgingly trusted Colonel Radec's word that no blood would be spilt.

When the General had first met the Colonel, it was still months after the war ended and all the Headmasters were gathered to introduce certain teachings and practices that were to be taught at a Huntsmen Academy so the Helghast would feel like they were on equal grounds of information. He appreciated Colonel Radec's professional courtesy to the Headmasters, even his differences other high profile Helghast.

The thing however is that he couldn't get over how the Colonel was so callous to his students, James would admit he was harsh but executing someone over a uniform violation was insane. Ideological differences and circumstance prevent them from being friends, a small rivalry keeps things interesting but neither cannot deny a mutual respect for each other's positions.

Headmaster or not he still knew that Mael was fervently loyal to his Emperor and his people, the dangers he proposed even as an aging warrior was still too high in his opinion, what was even more pressing was his ability to lead an army on his own. There were still other high profile Helghast military men that disturbed him; Kratek, Cobar, Anzak, and those were the declassified men they were allowed to know about.

Espionage was nearly out of the question, the Helghast were a nearly impossible people to spy on because they were on perpetual witchhunts it seemed, neighbors reported on each other almost daily, so tabs were always kept on each other to prevent the very possibility of integrating a spy. Since their airspace was constantly watched or moving a drone would have to be threatening to break the atmosphere to get a glimpse at them, very rarely was any info found.

Ever since the proposal of allowing four Helghast with, "celebrity blood" as they put it, enroll at Beacon in exchange for information that should've been commonly shared like every other Kindgdom. No one considered it a traditional exchange, but the Helghast were adamant about not allowing Kingdomers to set foot on Helghast soil, they also refused to adjust their rules about killing weak students or those that didn't follow their Academy's strict rules.

Atlas remained firmly defensive about the situation despite the SDC's advancements in Helghast/Kingdomer relations, even their reach went so far when the Kingdom's safety was in question. They themselves didn't know about the Atleasian Shadow Marshall program either, despite it being SDC software being utilized to kickstart the program.

These Marshalls were Huntsmen specially trained and designed to fight the Helghast version of Huntsmen if ever there was to be another open war between Helghan and the Kingdoms, it wasn't a secret that everyone was hoping that these Shadow Marshalls could be more than a match for a warrior like Colonel Radec.

Reviewing the news coverage of the Helghast students and their arrival, to no one's surprise there were groups protesting the Helghast arrival to attend Beacon, what was surprising was the restraint shown by the students and the words spoken by the Helghast team leader, Koza Radec.

Years ago, Ironwood had seen the young boy several times over the course of a few years, he grew fast like a Helghast and did his best to imitate his father, it was so strange that the Schnee family had been able to make any head way with Colonel Radec along with economic negotiations with Helghan's government and corporations.

Given the parties involved, General Ironwood grilled his specialist all she knew about the Radecs and anything they might've let slip in a conversation about their military might aside from the usual Helghast propaganda. He had taken note about her perceived affection or admiration for the Radec family, stating that they were, "Honest and upheld a presence of honor."

Specialist Schnee even allowed a ghost of a smile to appear as Koza Radec spoke to the camera at Vale's docks.

"I trust there will be no issues in your ability to do your job?" Ironwood asked as Winter straightened her back.

Her emotions were once again schooled back into stark stoicism, "There will be none sir."

The General crossed his arms looking down at his subordinate, "I understand that your family and their family are somewhat friendly Specialist Schnee, if you are not up to the task or wish to abstain you can be switched out for a different assignment."

Winter looked into her general's eyes, "I will do what is necessary, sir."

"Good," He said as he turned to several Atlesian Shadow Marshalls, "your task is simple, study the fighting techniques that each Radec Academy students uses. When the Vytal Festival comes around you will stand ready to deploy and engage these Helghast Huntsmen in training if the Helghast Empire proves to be hostile, and if necessary, terminate them. Is that understood?"

The Shadow Marshalls clicked their heels saluting, "Sir, yes sir!"

'I hope it doesn't come to that.' Winter thought privately, she knew her duty was to the protection of the Atlesian Kingdom, but she deep down felt dirty for being a part of a possible assassination plot for people she cared about. Winter knew them personally and it did rub her the wrong way that she was even taking part in a conversation about such a plan.

The General's heart was in the right place, he wanted to insure everyone's safety from the possibility of another war with the Helghast, she too also feared the possibility of such a thing happening, yet the thought of raising her sword to either Radec just seemed very foreign. Her duty would have to come before her feelings though, they may be good people, but they were insanely loyal to Helghan and its leader.

She just hoped that if this plan was to be executed, that Weiss would be able to forgive her. Weiss thought that she was clever and secretive, but Winter had always known since the first day that she met him that her little sister was hopelessly in love, there was little doubt in her mind that Weiss wasn't getting caught up with Koza right now.

Their relationship brought up a few interesting questions, would he choose her over Helghan? Would she choose him over her duty as a Huntress?

* * *

Beacon Academy, RWBY's Dorm...

"That's so cute, you two have been eyeing each other for a awhile eh?" Yang teased poking Weiss's cheek.

"This isn't funny Yang!" The Heiress spat with crossed arms, steam nearly billowing out of her ears, "This is very serious, he could be killed for liking me!"

Yang raised her hands keeping her wicked grin, "Alright, alright. Calm down Weisscream, I'm cool, if you want big tall mister creepy disappearing Helghast man, then you can have him."

"I wish…" Weiss muttered with dejected crossed arms her frown was evident, "Visari and his stupid laws and the not so good history with everyone else."

"You mean their open hostility to everyone and everything? There was also the unprovoked big war that killed a couple million people." Yang stated flatly.

Weiss's brow twitched, "True…but they're trying to get past it."

"Are you sure about that? I mean that sorta thing doesn't just change." The blonde said as she patted Weiss's shoulder, "I'm sure Koza's a neat guy but the Helghast aren't exactly popular."

"Yeah…but they all can't be strictly bad, I can't believe that Koza and his friends are really that rare. They're just scared of their government." Weiss reasoned with a hopeful tone.

"It's kinda funny," Yang chuckled with crossed arms, "it feels like just yesterday you were being very racist towards the Faunus, but here you are trying to defend the Helghast."

An indignant look came over Weiss, "Hey! I thought we were past that!?"

Yang held her hands up defensively with a smug grin, "I know, we are, but now you know what's it like with the shoe on the other foot."

The irony wasn't lost on the Schnee girl, here she was trying to defend a very hostile offshoot of Humanity that has done more recently in its few decades of existing than a race that has received scorn from both Humans and Helghast, Weiss sighed as the shame of her hypocrisy tore her up on the inside.

"I guess I do."

* * *

Firing Range...

"Hmmmmm, this shot grouping could use some work. Maybe seven clicks tighter on the rear sight-post will do it." Eli mumbled as rifled through his thigh pocket for a multitool to adjust his StA-52, one of his StA-52s. He hadn't even dived too far into his ammo stock, there was still enough to fill a Military Police station's armory.

"Hey Eli," Came Ruby's voice as she zipped right next to him, "I'd like you to meet my friend Blake."

The big Helghast boy looked down at her then to the girl he saw earlier at the dorm awhile back, the girl with a bow on her head, strange Kingdomer fashion sense he guessed, "How do you do?"

"Doing fine," Blake said quietly, her amber eyes the size of saucers as she stared into one bag filled with ammo and the other filed with all sorts of Helghast weaponry, "are you sure that you have enough bullets?"

"Bwhahahahahaha!" Both Ruby and Eli laughed hysterically, the latter slamming his humongous fist on shooting range's table, denting and conforming it to his fist unintendedly.

Blake made sure to mark it down in her mind that getting punched by this Helghast was a defiant no go, he was certainly a big person by Kingdomer standards, Yatsutashi would've been equal in height but when it came to muscle she doubted that even he could compare to the walking mass of tattooed muscle and metal.

"I got enough munitions 'ere to arm the original uprising in Sector Remus." Eli stated smugly as he set his StA-52 to the side, "Wish I'd been born at the right time to 'ave seen it, my dad and uncle saw it though."

"Really?" Ruby asked with interest, "the Helghast Revolution's start?"

Eli nodded as he collected the brass casings from his StA-52, "Revolution, Unification War, all those could work. My old man was an Army man, but my Uncle is a Navy man, even got himself high up in the chain of command."

"Who is your uncle?" Blake asked.

"Admiral Orlock, my mother's brother. He's the one that suggested to my old man that Radec Academy was the place for me." Eli stored his StA-52 in his weapons bag and leaned against the shooting range's table, "He couldn't convince me in joining the Helghast Navy though, I like my feet on the ground thank you very much."

'Admiral Orlock?' Blake thought as she recalled the name, he was famed for crushing Menagerie's modest naval capabilities and again when he had setup a strangle hold around every Kingdom but Atlas, though their airships weren't as sleek and fancy as the Atlesian ones the payload that could be delivered by the Helghast Cruisers was enough to keep Atlas at bay for a few years.

"I didn't like sleeping on that boat coming here," Eli cracked his neck, sounding more like crashing rocks, "darn cold too."

Ruby couldn't blame Eli, she couldn't imagine how she'd entertain herself on a boat for a whole week, though now that she thought about it, why didn't they just fly here on a ship? Probably some sort of treaty about airspace or something like that.

"Couple of fellas back at the Academy called us the all-star team, cause of our families and their history with our glorious leader, Emperor Visari." Eli boasted with a tone of pride in his voice.

Blake felt somewhat annoyed with the Helghast boy's smugness, "So, things were pretty easy back in Radec Academy I take it?"

"Hell no," Eli said nodding his head to the sides, "pedigree don't mean nothing in Radec Academy. If anything, it just makes things harder, Sobie was nearly shot for failing a class, it didn't matter who his daddy was he could've been shot like anyone else."

"They shoot students for failing!?" Both girls cried in horror.

"Uhuh, this one bloke got blasted for not ironing his uniform properly," Eli stated as if it was just a matter of fact, "Colonel Headmaster Radec is a very strict but fair man. His rules are simple, follow them and you live."

Ruby cringed at the mention of a student being shot, "But, what about their family?"

Eli hummed tapping his finger against his mask, "Don't know really, I think they compensate the family a few hundred marks for their kid. They know the rules and they know the consequences of breaking them. Fair is fair."

"It's cruel and unusual," Blake said with a frown, "its sick to kill a child over a wrinkle in his uniform."

The tall Helghast grunted with crossed arms looking down at Blake with a judging stare, "You Kingdomers are soft, and lazy if you'd allow a wrinkle in your uniforms, the dress code is the foundation of discipline. Death is the propa punishment."

Blake kept her stare with the Helghast towering over her without waiver, "Well excuse me if I think its dumb to kill someone over a wrinkle."

"Very well," He said dryly, leaning down so his mask was an inch away from Blake's face, "you're excused, Kingdomer."

"Heeeeeeeeey, Eli, I almost forgot," Ruby said as she squeezed in between her teammate and new Helghast friend, "we wanted to throw you guys a welcoming party…and well, I was wondering if you guys wouldn't mind if we hung out, get to know each other since we're going to school together."

"Oh, really?" Eli asked uncrossing his arms, "that's rather nice. I'll ask the lads about it, we brought some Helghast movies that we could watch. Like, All Quiet on the Vacuo Front, Saving Private Saric, ever heard of them?"

"Nope," Ruby said popping the P, "but they sound interesting."

"Ruby, you realize those are movies based on the war, right?" Blake asked with a frown.

"Yeah." The little Huntress in training said plainly.

"Meaning that there will be a lot of killing, people killing people in it. Are you allowed to watch those?"

"Why is that even a hang up?" Eli asked with legitimate confusion.

"Ruby's fifteen, and not exactly allowed to watch vulgar movies." Blake explained, "plus I'm not sure if Yang would be okay with her watching them in the first place."

Eli looked between the Kingdomer girls, "I still don't comprehend what the problem is."

"There is none, I can watch them!" Ruby chirped with a big smile.

Blake gave Ruby an apprehensive look, "We'll see what Yang has to say about it."

Ruby crossed her arms frowning at Blake with a pouty face, "I'm not a kid, I can so watch grown up movies!"

"Didn't you say you were a Huntress in training too?" Eli asked, "If you're killing monsters then what's wrong with watching some simulated blood and guts flying about?"

Ruby pointed her finger into the air in declaration, "Then its settled! Just tell us when and we'll bring over some popcorn and soda…and...do Helghast eat any of that stuff?"

Eli shrugged as he lifted his bag onto one shoulder heading towards the door, "We have Helghan MREs in case we don't fancy your Kingdomer stuff. See ya later Ruby, and Ruby's friend."

"It's Blake!" The raven-haired Faunus girl called.

"Ruby's friend, got it!" Eli called back as he turned the corner, leaving the two Kingdomer Huntresses in training alone.

While Blake fumed at the apparent intentional disrespect Eli showed by not acknowledging her name, Ruby stared at her with a frown, "You couldn't be cool and not pull the age card in front of my-our new friend?"

Blake sighed looking down at Ruby, "The last time we watched a scary movie you slept in Yang's bed for a week."

Ruby crossed her arms and turned away from Blake, "I wasn't scared! It was just really cold that week in the room and Yang is like a living radiator."

The Faunus girl rolled her eyes with a small smile on her lips, "If you say so Ruby."

"I do say so," Ruby said as she looked down range at Eli's choice of targets, feeling somewhat disturbed that the targets were mostly Human in their form with a few Grimm, "I can defiantly handle some war movie."

Blake was also looking at the targets with some apprehension, it was no secret that Huntsmen fought criminals, they themselves took on Torchwick and the White Fang. It had even been known that Huntsmen sometimes had to kill criminals, but unlike Kingdomer Huntsmen the Helghast were very comfortable with killing humanoids, there were rumors of Helghast Huntsmen in training killing each other in school but they were just rumors.

At least, that's what Blake told herself. If they could be murdered for a wrinkle in a school uniform, then maybe it wasn't too farfetched for their Huntsmen in training to kill each other.

* * *

Helghast Dorm…

"Grrrr," Sobieski growled as he slid his boots back on, "Antoine must know where the sleeping pills are around here."

The boat right had taken its toll on the Helghast students but Sobieski himself had been the unluckiest of the bunch, the poor boy hadn't the stomach for the sea and it kept him restless. He would've gone through Antoine's bag for the pills himself, but he didn't want to make a mistake and end up spasming on the floor drowning in his own spit.

He was tired, not stupid.

Sobieski fiddled around with the small doohickey for several seconds, a curse for every time he had nearly dropped the tiny deviltech with his big clumsy gloved hands. His Kingdomer literacy wasn't as good compared to Antoine of Koza but he could tell which image indicated the school's library, so he clicked on it and immediately set forth to follow the route and secure some of those lovely sleeping pills.

On his route he'd notice the occasional gasp or whisper, though he paid his lesser no mind, they can piss themselves in fear or gossip about him all they wanted. The opinions of lesser animals meant nothing to Sobieski, he hated this mission but the prospect of seeing and battling actual wild Grimm was something that enticed the young warrior.

Plus beating on Kingdomers also sounded fun.

A devious grin came over the boy's face as he thought about all thrashings and scrapes he could have with the Kingdom children, how he'd humiliate them in front of their peers after brutally pummeling them into their lousy Kingdom dirt. Sobieski cracked his knuckles with a dark hearty chuckle, he wanted to return home with stories of putting the Humans and Faunus in their place, underneath his boots.

He pushed his way into the vast library, the number of books seemed almost overwhelming at first, but he had to wonder how many of them held Kingdomer lies about his beautiful Helghan? How many of them slander his Emperor and his nation's army? It didn't matter, this place was and always will be beneath Radec Academy and Helghan, it was a simple fact.

Sobieski managed to spot Antoine, but he felt a wave of dread and disgust wash over him as he saw the creature standing next to him, the long brown rabbit ears poking out of ocean of brown hair made the Helghast realize what he was looking at. It was embarrassing enough that they had to tolerate these things, but it must've been worse for the Humans after the realized that they need the Faunus to help them survive.

Biting back the urge to shout something at Antoine, along the lines of this not being a petting zoo, he instead just marched towards the Helghast boy and rabbit thing. He however stopped as a large Human walked right up to the Faunus girl and smacked her books to the floor.

"Ooops, you should be more careful with those, freak." The Human kicked the books, scattering them across the floor.

Sobieski looked around and noticed that the Human students for the most part ignored the bully, they must've either been alright with it or they just didn't want to get involved. He liked his tactics, hell, he didn't even like the creature but striking a woman wasn't exactly something he enjoyed seeing as it started to boil his blood.

"Hey, that is completely uncalled for!" Antoine yelled standing between the Human male and Faunus girl.

The sneer on the Human's face was one Sobieski had seen on the docks, "Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it, you mutant Hig!?"

As soon as the boy pushed Antoine into the Faunus girl Sobieski saw red, in a flash he slammed the Human, sending him sliding back several feet. Sobieski growled fiercely with his fists balled up, the lenses of his mask glowed a dangerous crimson, he glanced back seeing Antoine help the girl up, then brought his glare to the Human scum.

"How about you fock off me mate, you slimy Human cunt!" Sobieski snarled with his fists raised in a boxing stance, his boots squeaking as they slid into his form, "Or am I gonna have to beat the retard out of you?"

The Human cracked his knuckles as he also took up a stance, "I'll send you back to your speck of an island in a little box, Hig!"

"ENOUGH!" Both fighters turned their heads to the sight of a very furious Glynda Goodwitch with her wand drawn, her purple telekinetic energy shown bright around the wand as she was ready to pick both boys up if they gave her reason to do so, "Mister Winchester and mister Cobar, if there is a dispute you want to settle then you will settle it in combat class, not in this library. I frankly expected better from you two."

Sobieski looked between this "Winchester" boy and the blonde teacher, "Seriously?"

"This isn't over." Cardin growled pointing at Sobieski accusingly.

The white Helghast glanced back at Cardin and held his glare, "You're going to be the first Kingdomer I beat to a pulp."

He watched as the boy dismiss his threat, the Human turned his back and stalked away through the human crowd that had gathered from the library, a woman with a black beret and sunglasses came from the crowd looking confused, "What happened? I go to the bathroom for five minutes and something cool happens, of course!"

Sobieski ignored the foolish looking Human and snapped at Antoine, "If that filthy Human touches you again I'll kill him…you alright Stahl?"

Antoine smiled and nodded, "I am Sobie, you didn't need to do that though, I had everything under control."

"Sure you did," He turned to see the Professor staring at him with her arms crossed, "what?"

"I don't know how you do things in Radec Academy," Glynda said with her disapproval evident in her tone, "but here in Beacon you do not start fights in the library."

Sobieski was about to say something that most certainly would've came off as crass and disrespectful but thankfully Antoine spoke on his behalf, "Professor, Sobieski didn't start anything, that brute just walked up to Velvet and smacked her books to the floor. I stood up in her defense and then he pushed me, Sobieski merely just acted out of instinct."

"Velvet, is this true?" The Professor asked in a surprisingly softer tone.

The Faunus girl nodded, "Yes, it is, he just came up to us and wanted to pick a fight."

Professor Goodwitch nodded her head, "That boy is going to get himself expelled one of these days. In that case, mister Cobar-"

"Lieutenant Cobar." Sobieski grunted.

"Lieutenant," The Professor stressed the word, indicating she doesn't like to be interrupted, "I am sorry for assuming the worst."

Sobieski nodded at the Professor, he wasn't real big when it came to niceties, for the most part apologizing was a sign of weakness to the Helghast therefor he never apologized unless it was totally warranted, "He and I are going to settle things in your little arena, no one touches my nerd and gets away with it."

The Professor seemed somewhat confused by the wording Sobieski used but decided that it was none of her concern, "Then I expect that you'll be ready tomorrow then when you come to my class."

With her final word on the matter said, the Professor went about her duties, leaving the two Helghast students and Faunus student behind. Sobieski cracked his neck stiffly, if she hadn't interfered he would've ripped that boy's arms off and shoved them up his ass for assaulting Antoine.

The Helghast noble in question was helping the Faunus with her books while the beret wearing Human came over to help, "What happened?"

"Cardin happened." Velvet said meekly.

"Ugh," The girl groaned as she gave Velvet a book back, "why won't you let us deal with that jerk?"

"Coco-"

"He's gonna get his shit kicked in for touching my nerd," Sobieski spat balling up his fists, "I'm gonna to break his stupid pink fleshy face!"

"Your nerd?" Coco asked with a cocked brow.

"Sobieski was on the verge of failing a few courses at Radec Academy," Antoine explained, "I offered to tutor him, and it ended up saving his life from the culling."

"Yeah, ain't nobody touching this nerd, if the Helghast girls want 'em then they gotta pay up first." Sobieski quipped smacking Antoine's back, almost forcing the boy to the floor.

The noble glanced back at Sobieski with an unamused frown as the Kingdomer women chuckled, "The hell did you even come here for?"

Sobieski grabbed Antoine by the shoulders and started to shake him, "I want sleeping pills. Give them to me or I'll waterboard you in a toilet and draw dicks on your face when you're sleeping."

Antoine sighed as collected his books, "Alright you big baby, bye Velvet, Coco. I need to give mister tough guy here his medicine."

"Okay, bye Antoine." Velvet said with a smile, "good luck on your research, oh, and Sobieski. Thanks for sticking up for us."

A frown came over the white Helghast's face, "I stuck up for him, not for you, just because I don't like it when a man hits a woman doesn't mean I care about what happens to your kind or her kind."

Coco balled her fists as she saw Velvet's ears droop, "You're such a jerk, can't you just take a compliment?"

"Not from you, Kingdomer scum." Sobieski hissed as he turned his back to the members of CFVY, ignoring Antoine's pleading look and the fiery daggers coming from Coco's glare.

Antoine cringed face palming, "I'm so sorry, that's just how he is."

The Helghast noble boy caught back up with his white uniformed friend, "Seriously Sobie!? Are you kidding me!?"

"What are you going on about Antoine?" Sobieski asked as if he didn't know why he was being scolded.

Antoine was not having it, "You know damn well that what you said was unacceptable, the mission goal is to better relations not be a dickhead."

"You can't be serious," Sobieski groaned looking up at the ceiling, "do you honestly believe we'll ever have peace with these animals? They can't even stop fighting amongst themselves, no one bothered stopping that brute in the library but me. You're giving them too much credit."

"Your behavior isn't the most befitting of guest and you know is Sobie, at least try to be decent with some of the people we will be living with." Antoine demanded with his arms folded.

The white uniformed Helghast groaned, "Fine. I'll try it your way… now get me some fucking sleep meds."

"Alright, we're getting them you big baby." Antoine said bumping Sobieski's shoulder.

As the two Helghast rounded the corner they nearly crashed into their taller gunnut friend, "Oi, lads."

"Eli? You done shooting? This soon?" Sobieski asked, it wouldn't be uncommon for Eli to spend nearly a whole day at the firing range to perfect his shooting prowess, so it was odd that he'd be done so soon after a week of not being able to squeeze off a few rounds.

"Yeah, I am, I also made a friend with that girl that knocked on our door, she's a gunfreak too, she built herself this amazing snipa scythe that's just a grand ole time." The tall Helghast gushed with almost gossip-like enthusiasm, "Anyway, she asked if it was alroight if they threw us a welcoming party and watch a few Helghast movies."

Sobieski was a loss for words as he tried to comprehend just what came out of Eli's big blaggard mouth, friends, with that small Kingdomer girl? The world must be losing its mind for such a thing to be remotely possible.

Whereas Sobieski was astonished Antoine held genuine satisfaction, "Well good on ya Eli, a modest party sounds like fun, but did you ask Koza?"

Eli nodded his head, "Hadn't the chance, last I saw he was with Weiss Schnee heading down a hall. Must be catching up on old times I suppose."

"We'll link up with him before curfew, then he can make the final decision."

Sobieski growled lowly, "I don't care what you guys decide, I'm getting some sleep. And I swear by Visari's name, if they talk during Saving Private Saric I'll throttle them, I waited all year for that movie to come out on holodisk."

* * *

Empty Beacon hallway...

Having left Ruby's side for a small "errand" she had to run, Blake let out a relieved sigh as her fingers brushed over the spine of her new book, though there was a lot on her mind lately with the White Fang's new alliance with the thief Torchwick and of course the latest arrival of the Helghast, she needed to find the time for reading and this was it.

Since the area she read in was barren there hadn't been a need to constrict her Faunus cat ears any longer, instead she let them air out of the ribbon and twitch freely on their own to stretch. Normally such a luxury was for when she was alone in a more secure room but since she could hear whenever anyone was nearby the problem would be solved by simply tying the bow around her ears quickly.

Just as she was about to open her book her ears twitched, she heard movement, it was close by but that simply didn't make sense, she had just cleared the hallway. She sniffed the air and cringed, the scent smelled industrial in nature, a particularly leathery scent was also present but not as pronounced.

Blake's ears trembled as she heard a static sound, she turned around and to her horror saw Koza standing not more than an arm's length away from her, his eyepieces staring down at her silently as she held her breath he disengaged his mask, allowing his eyepieces to shift over his head.

"I thought I recognized you," He said squinting at Blake, "I've met you before."

"H-how?" Blake asked with a tremble in her voice, "I never met-"

It was a faint feeling but she now started to recollect a time that they could've potentially met each other, she wasn't too certain but now that she thought about it with a clear mind the name Radec seemed more…familiar.

"I remember now, Ghira, Ghira is your father's name!" Koza said snapping his fingers.

Blake crossed her arms racking her brain, "How do you-"

"It was two or three years after the war ended, I was like four or five when we came up to Menagerie to establish trade deals with your people. That's where I know you."

Suddenly the memory came back to Blake, it was in fragments but she distinctly remembers a strange masked boy in shorts, "Oh my- I remember now."

* * *

Aaaaaaaaaand cliff hanger, I have excellent timing, don't I? Well keep your shirts on, I know I'm a slow fucker at updating but I'm busy doing stuff like work and several other stories, what can I say? I can't turn off the ole imagination machine. The good thing for y'all is that I already have the next chapter started, it just isn't close to being finished yet.

Big news though, ya boi, Doomsdayguy12345 *me* and Captain Fuckew McHugerage have been working (mostly him) on a map of Helghan for Helghan's Reach, she's still a work in progress but you can get a look at it on his deviantart page, Kokoda39, that is of course you're interested in looking at the map.


	6. World of Remnant, Helghan Part 1

"Darkness, a natural lack of light, or absence of light if you will." The calm and gentle voice of Professor Ozpin said as clouds parted ways over a map of Remnant, "Another meaning is in reference to more…sinister qualities, wickedness, malignance, or as some would more bluntly call evil."

Ships sailed through the air and on the sea, bearing the Helghan Corporations insignia, other ships bore the sigil of the now fallen Mantle Empire, "Darkness exists within Man, be it through depression, fear, jealousy, or even rage, it is ever present and draws upon the Grimm."

The leaders of Mantle's refugees could be seen shaking hands with Helghan's governors, sharing laughter and smiles despite their situation, behind them stood miners and workers that slouched and limped, glaring at the Humans at the docking zones, their eyepieces shimmering like fire.

"In a way the darkness within Man is worse than the Grimm," Emperor Scolar Visari interrupted bitterly, "the Grimm will kill you and be on their way, Man however, Man will make you suffer, Man will humiliate you to the point of death becoming preferable."

Helghast workers could be seen sluggishly dragging their feet with pickaxes on their backs, Mantlean enforcers cracked whips every so often. Human nobles sitting in high towers breaching the clouds pointed and laughed down at the dregs below, as men and women coughed violently in the streets with their only relief could be found in sharing puffs from respirators, some visibly held together by duct tape.

On a tower situated closer to the slums of Pyrrhus stood a bald man, his face set in a scowl as he clenched his fists and glared up at the Human nobles, "For years my people endured the darkness of Humankind, I watched as they suffered in the streets, as potential was wasted. I decided that since I was blessed with privilege, that the time had come for a change of pace."

Scolar Visari stood before a crowd of workers, one fist was clenched as his free hand pointed up to the spires that broke Helghan's clouds, decrying the rulers that had forgotten their colony until it was their only means of salvation, how they let the people of Helghan writhe in suffering whilst they breathe unimpeded.

Slowly the crowd began to increase in size, banners began to appear as did weapons make their way into the hands of people in the crowd, "I offered the Helghast people the one thing they truly lacked, pride, the belief of their inner power that Mantle had tried for so long to crush underneath the weight of their oppression, the humiliation we endured would define us it shaped us as much as our environment did."

Human nobles whispered amongst themselves as they glimpsed further down into the slums, Helghast miners refusing to work as Mantle mine enforcers prepared to use their whips, only to be overpowered by a swarm of Helghast militia from behind. Flaming bottles crashed on top of Mantlean vehicles, Humans were being tossed from buildings as Triad banners flew from every lamp post.

"For too long had the rightful heirs to Helghan had endured the rule of Human foreigners, for too long the Helghast people endured treatment befitting of slaves, for too long did we accept the insult of being called mutants when we are so much more."

"Yet even as Man struggled against Man, the Grimm would not discriminate between either cause," Ozpin said, his voice coming across with minor irritation and dread, "and unlike wars from before, cooperation between opposing sides was out of the question."

A Human General along with his retinue from his forces pleaded and begged a Helghast Colonel to allow a cease fire, Grimm surrounded both forces and was steadily encroaching on both armies. Before the Humans could react, they were viciously gunned down with the General being the last man as the Colonel made him watch his men die first, before shooting him.

"Unlike our Human counterparts, the Helghast do not fear the prospect of death, for it was a preferable alternative to being forced to tolerate our oppressors any longer."

As Grimm slaughtered through the Human forces, Helghast troopers and tanks stood back and fired into the crowd of Man and Grimm, their tanks rolled forward as they chased down any and all stragglers that they could find.

"With unity, with great fortitude that only the Helghast people could possess, we not only liberated our home from Humankind but also the Grimm themselves, a feat that no nation or race had ever accomplished before." Visari commented with smug pride evident in his voice, images of Helghast hunting parties scoured the island, running down smaller Grimm variants while fighters struck Nevermore from the sky, and tanks overwhelmed Deathstalkers.

"The Ministry of Propaganda and the Ministry of Health keep morale high and the Helghast healthy, the messages of our superiority and with the steady utilization of behavioral medication, the Grimm find our worthy race less than appetizing."

Helghast aircraft harass Nevermore flocks over the skies of Helghan, aces clip the wings of the demonic birds, forcing them into the pitless seas where they were embraced by murky darkness. Naval craft cut swaths through the seas as depth charges blow apart aquatic Grimm, specialized Helghast divers fight the beasts that made their homes in Helghan's bays.

Ozpin sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Yes, it has brought Helghan reprieve from the Grimm, at a great and terrible inhumane cost, the cost of a people's soul."

Triad banners fly boldly, fighter craft soar through the air, a pair of fiery eyes pieces glare menacingly as Mantleans and Halfbreeds lie in mass graves, being covered by concrete, where new communal buildings shall soon rise. Raiding parties go home to home, dragging out enemies of the State, only to be dragged into trucks, destined for reeducation camps placed in the coldest region of Helghan.

"The sacrifice for Helghan's independence could never be too great, Humankind outstayed its welcome, abused our hospitality, and they paid for it the same as the traitors. For years we endured peace, until one fateful time, when we were reminded of the existence of potential enemies."

In the Bay of Pyrrhus a Vacuoian warship had the misfortune of overshooting their destination of Menagerie, its subsequent attack on a port sealed its fate as the Helghast Navy blocked its ability to escape, Visari himself stood watching the battle unfold with a sadistic grin, "In an unwarranted attack on our shores by the very people that doomed us to die on Helghan was the final insult needed to solidify my rule over Helghan and to declare our war for vengeance! Helghan would not only remind the world of its existence but it would educate them in a lesson of pain."

"But that," Ozpin said as clouds started covering Remnant once more, "is a story for another time."

* * *

This is just a little in between for the greater story, the next chapter itself is nearly done, along with the latest DKRWBY chapter, stuff just takes time to do, enjoy.


	7. Chapter 6

Menagerie, Post Helghan Emergence War…

Only three years had passed since the war that tore Remnant apart and still nations were rebuilding themselves from the awful conflict, Menagerie itself had been worse off compared to all the other Kingdom nations that bore the scars from Helghan's savage fury. To the Faunus it was most unfair, the war had started just after their own war for civil rights, not more than a month had past, before Helghast ships invaded their shores without warning.

Those that hadn't fled fast enough found themselves back in chains and shackles, slaves not to humans but instead to the Helghast, if you were to have asked a veteran slave his opinion of it, he'd tell you the Humans were decent compared to the Helghast on how they treated their slaves.

While armies clashed on the mainland Kingdoms a guerilla war was waged in the jungles of Menagerie, led by Ghira Belladonna of the White Fang, on the Helghast side however were two men of immeasurable cruelty led what was known as the Colonial Guard, General Armin Metrac and Colonel Tendon Cobar.

All of Menagerie knew their names and their visages, horror stories told by unlucky slaves or skeletal-like POWs revealed just how inhumane and sadistic their occupiers truly were, even the most racist Human being on the planet paled listening to the stories about the truly cruel and sadistic men. Some would even say the Helghast felt nervous around them.

Ears were torn off by hand, tails snapped and pulled off, sometimes men and women were flayed in public, all to lure out guerillas from the forests, the screams and cries of torment being blasted on loud speakers to echo throughout the land. Any that had the misfortune to listen could attest to having bloodcurdling nightmares and visions of hellish scenes from the psychological torture, the Grimm unsurprisingly went rampant, suffering and fear permeated the island.

Even though the war was over, people would lock their doors tight at night, sleep with weapons in hand or nearby as the thought of the White Death kicking down your door to drag you away chilled even the most hardened of warriors down to their very bones.

Ghira Belladonna himself practiced this nightly ritual, he had a lot to lose, a lot of things men like Tendon Cobar could use to hurt him, he had a wife and daughter to take care of now. Even if the war was over he'd never take risks with any of those men in gas masks. He however had to accept this parley from one of those… those monsters.

Menagerie was still in dire need of aid, many structures needed rebuilding, agriculture needed to be kickstarted again and of course there needed to be a reformation of education on the island so that his people were literate, he didn't even want to think about the economy.

Being High Chieftain and the White Fang's leader was an awful weight on his shoulders.

Though his heart was twisted, on one hand his people needed aid, on the other… it was offered by **them**.

"Ghira," Kali said waving her hand in front of her husband's face, a tea tray being held up by her other hand, "you're doing that thing again."

The large Faunus man looked up at his wife from his chair, "What?"

Kali gave a warm smile as she patted his arm, "You're doing that foot tapping, you're going to break the floor at the rate you're going."

Ghira gave a heavy sigh, "Sorry…it's just that- you know who's coming."

For a moment, a look of dread crossed the Faunus woman's face, "I know. Let's just hope that things remain civil and something is accomplished."

A faint smile appeared on the man's face as he took a deep breath, "I'm sure something will come out of it."

Out of the corner of his eye he spied a little cat Faunus peaking outside the doorway, "Blake, I see you, come here. You aren't in trouble."

With a slight bit of hesitation, the short Faunus girl ran up to her father, looking up at him with big yellow eyes, "Dad, what's going on? Are you meeting someone tonight? Can I stay and listen?"

For a brief moment, stark fear crossed the man's eyes, "No," he said sternly, "this meeting is not for little kittens to listen to, you'd find it boring anyways."

Blake pouted crossing her arms, "I'm not a kitten."

Kali bent down and pinched Blake's cheek, "You're my little kitten."

The small Faunus girl hissed batting at her mother's hand, only to be surprised by her father ruffling her hair, "Dad!"

"Run along now Blake," Ghira said patting his daughter on the head, "our guest shouldn't be too long."

Blake looked like she was about to protest, but she kept whatever comment she had to herself as she nodded and left out the door she came through. Kali made sure to lock the door just in case her daughter tried to sneak into the room again, the door wasn't thick enough to completely drown out the conversation to come but it was enough to muffle even Faunus hearing.

The two Faunus watched a clock hanging above the doorway intently, sweat formed but was wiped away quickly as both tried to keep a calm composure, the tea was placed in the middle of the negotiation table, the scent of green tea leaves with a pinch of mint filled the stiff air, providing little comfort to either man or woman.

Suddenly the doors opposite of the entrance burst open, two Helghast with rolled up sleeves entered the room with shotguns in a low rest position, they seemed almost tempted to raise their weapons, Ghira's eye twitched as he balled up both of his fists, his knuckles cracking even as his wife held onto his arm to keep him controlled, she herself had a look of distress as neither of men looked away from them.

Their uniforms weren't the urban standard that they usually wore, modifications of the fabric were made to keep them cooler, even then they were begrudged to show off their paler than death skin, as if afraid to get a tan. The feeling of hate was mutual between the Helghast soldiers and Ghira at this point, they butchered his people and he was responsible for thousands of dead Helghast.

"That's enough, leave us." A voice commanded from behind the two Helghast, a man shimmered into view, standing well above his two guards in his unique uniform.

"Sir." Both men replied as they all but glared daggers at the two Faunus in the room.

"You must excuse my men," Colonel Radec said as the door closed behind him, "they can be rather…passionate at times."

The Colonel walk towards the table, he offered his hand to the Belladonna's, "I don't believe we've been properly introduced, I am Colonel Radec."

Ghira hesitantly, if not begrudgingly met him with a firm grip, "Ghira Belladonna. This is my wife Kali."

"Hi." The Faunus woman said as she met the Colonel's hand, "Would you like some tea?"

Colonel Radec glanced down at the tea set momentarily and bowed his head respectfully, "Hmmm, I could go for a cup I suppose. After all, our discussion will be lengthy."

The Colonel took his seat in front of Ghira as Kail pulled out three cups and gently started pouring tea into each cup, both men held an uneasy stare, at least in Ghira's case, Colonel Radec had yet to adjust his mask just yet as he eyed the cup Kali set before him.

"Thank you, Madam Belladonna." The Colonel said nodding his head towards the woman, she blinked seemingly caught off guard by the Colonel's niceties and bowed her head slightly with a warm smile.

Slowly the Colonel deactivated his eyepieces and shifted the mask back so his eyes could be seen, surprisingly to the Belladonna's he had disengaged the mask further and removed the head piece attached to his mask and set it aside on the table, his sweaty brown hair had seemed uncharacteristically fuller than expected yet was thinner than most Human men.

"If there is one thing I appreciated about the Kingdoms up north it was the mild temperature." The Colonel said as he used a handkerchief to wipe sweat from his brow, "Let's see, where do we begin on our negotiations?"

Ghira crossed his arms, his chest was slightly puffed out to give off a bigger appearance to the Colonel as an attempt of minor psychological intimidation, "First let's address the reason why you contacted us in the first place."

"Ah, yes, you see Chieftain Belladonna," Colonel Radec began, unfazed by the Faunus man's attempt at intimidation, "the Autarch has personally instructed me to give his apologies for the…atrocities committed by General Metrac and Colonel Tendon Cobar, he wishes for our peoples to move on, and to hopefully progress to a mutually beneficial relationship."

Kali and Ghira looked between each other and then back to Colonel Radec, "I don't understand."

"You see, our problem was never with Faunuskind," The Colonel explained, "it was with Mankind, it was with the Kingdomers that have treated both of our peoples as…lesser beings, treated us like subhumans instead as fellow inhabitants of Remnant. It was a mistake for us to invade Menagerie."

Ghira frowned with a dangerous tint in his yellow eyes, "A mistake? A. Mistake!? Do we honestly look that Human to you people!?"

Colonel Radec sat passively stirring two sugars into his tea, "The last any Helghast had seen a Faunus, you were in bondage to Humankind, under Mantle's heel, we hadn't realized your war for independence was occurring when that ship crossed into Helghan's waters, we had believed you were going to be used to invade our island, so we acted accordingly."

"Is torturing and killing hundreds of innocent people acting, 'accordingly,' as you put it, Colonel!?" Ghira demanded smacking his open palm on the table, causing a little bit of his tea and Kali's to spill slightly.

Colonel Radec narrowed his dark green eyes at the Faunus Chieftain, his eyes color changed drastically, unnerving the Belladonna's as his eyes took on a reddish hue, "I understand your frustrations, Chieftain, but I seem to remember something about your forces using similar tactics on captured Helghast. Not that I'm claiming moral superiority, but you sure as hell know your hands are, **not,** clean either."

Kali started to rub Ghira's back, hoping she'd be able to calm him down slightly, she hadn't heard much about this Colonel, but she could sense the power his aura had, it honestly terrified her that one man could hold such power and she did not want to test his patience.

Thankfully though his eyes reverted to dark green, "Our actions are usually harsh, this is true. Again, I agree personally that Metrac and Cobar went too far in their actions. It is all because we are outnumbered in terms of total population, so we need to exert more strength to threaten our opponents, we, Helghast and Faunus are minorities to the Humans."

"What are you suggesting?" Kali asked as the man moved his rebreather down to take a sip of his tea.

With a held breath Colonel Radec sipped his tea silently, he sets his cup aside resituating his rebreather, "Autarch Visari would like to establish a Helghast-Faunus defense alliance, both of our nations working together, to provide our peoples with a prosperous and safe future, one the Humans would not be able to threaten with our combined might."

Neither Belladonna said a word as they both stared at the Colonel in complete shock. The concept of a treaty of that magnitude with Helghan was unprecedented, very few of the Kingdoms had even offered such a thing post-Faunus Rights Revolution, even then, would it even be the best thing for their people?

Humankind had alienated Faunuskind for as long as any could remember, yet if anything the Helghast Emergence War brought them closer together when both of their races had been pushed against the metaphorical wall by the hateful Helghast and Grimm. Yet they knew old habits would persist with Humankind, and the offer made by The Hound was a very tempting one.

"This is a very…" Ghira trailed off as he thought more on the offer itself, from what he experienced with the Helghast before; he saw that they did not either like or respect the Faunus, he saw how they chained up civilians and made them into slaves, again, how they'd beat them without mercy, showing them no semblance of decency.

Would it really be fair to those people to just accept an offer from their former brutish oppressors? No matter how desperate their situation, it just wouldn't be right, to just crawl on their bellies with open hands begging for handouts from the very people that made them that way in the first place. Then it truly dawned on him, they wanted Menagerie to be a satellite state, a buffer zone between them and the Human kingdoms, they didn't see the Faunus as equals or fellow minorities.

Just a useful chess piece.

"The answer is no." Ghira stated firmly, he watched as the Colonel's eyes narrowed slightly, "I cannot accept that offer."

"You'd refuse our offer of money, food, and building materials?" Colonel Radec asked with his arms crossed, seemingly unamused.

"I-I am." Ghira said reaffirming his stance, "While we are in a great need of many things…that offer is one that we cannot accept. We may be weakened but we are not going to enter into a deal that would only further alienate us from the Kingdoms, we may have our differences, but the White Fang is striving to improve our relationship with Humanity."

Colonel Radec seemed like he was about to further argue the point but the sudden movement of a shadow above him caused the Helghast man to look up as a sudden shriek rang out from above.

The Belladonna's snapped their heads up as their daughter came plummeting downward from the rafters above, "BLAKE!"

Before either parent could react Colonel Radec had already jumped out of his chair and grabbed the Faunus girl before she smashed on top of the tea set. He looked down at the little Faunus in his arms as she stared back with wide yellow eyes, he glimpsed up to the Belladonna's as they both warningly stared at the Colonel, Ghira looked about ready to jump over the table to grab Blake, while Kali looked to be on the verge of tears.

"This your kitten?" Colonel Radec asked as he compared the obvious features the young girl and her parents shared.

"Please," Kali begged with her arms out, "don't hurt her, give her back please."

The Colonel squinted mildly offended, "Do you believe Helghast eat children or something? It seems Metrac and Cobar left a worst impression than I originally thought."

One of Ghira's worst fears had just manifested, a Helghast had his hands on his daughter, the man in front of him could use her as a hostage now to threaten him into accepting the Helghast offer, or he could just crush Blake in his hands.

Yet to his surprise the man in front of him did not such thing, instead he held Blake out to Kali with an amused chuckle, "I know how children can be, always so nosey."

Colonel Radec took his seat once more, and as he sat down his arm snapped out and grabbed something in thin air, he raised his arm and turned his head towards whatever was in his grasp, "I have my own pup, who will uncloak this instant."

With a light shimmer of air, a young boy dressed in Helghast clothing appeared, the Colonel's hand held onto the boy's collar as he dangled, he wore simple black shorts and a rolled up Helghast collared shirt, his respirator was far less complex but still seemed a higher quality than most, "Heheh…hi."

It had soon dawned on the Belladonnas this was the first instance of them ever seeing a Helghast child, they very easily forgot that the Helghast soldiers were at one-point small children like the one in front of them, the idea of the men that had occupied their island years ago were at one-point innocent and small was lost on most people in Menagerie.

"Koza, what have I said about spying on my meetings?" The Colonel asked his son, his tone seeming very unamused.

The boy twiddled his thumbs together looking up at his father, "If I'm going to do it, try not to be so obvious?"

"Correct. You obviously need more training in your stealth, boy. We will work on that later." The Colonel said as he placed Koza on his knee, "Now, where were we?"

"I-uh-" Ghira stumbled over his words as he tried to make sense of the current situation, he grunted and said firmly, "I said no to your proposal."

"Hmmmmm," The Colonel said as his finger tapped on his son's head, "the Autarch won't be too happy about your decision, I know for a fact that he'll nearly have a stroke ranting about how my plan to make deals with, as he put it with all due respect, animals, was a huge waste of Helghan's time."

The Belladonna clan frowned at the mention of the word animals, a word Humans and the Helghast often used to demean the Faunus people. Blake puffed her cheeks out as she clung onto her mother, but noticed the Helghast boy waving at her, timidly she waved back.

"And what do you think about it, Colonel?" Ghira asked with crossed arms and a deep frown.

"Personally, and off the record," The Colonel said as he sat back in his chair, "you prove to be as smart as I thought you were, I knew you'd never accept the offer, your people have pride and strength, though you'd wear your belts tight for a few years you'd eventually rebuild on your own. Something that even Visari would have to respect even if he doesn't like your race."

The Belladonnas seemed taken back by his response, "Then why did you even try to make this deal? When you know we'd refuse and when your leader hates us."

"It was a gesture of goodwill towards an unintentional opponent," He answered plainly with a casual shrug, "and unlike other Helghast, including Visari, I do not believe in subjugating or killing either your race or Humanity, only in Helghan's defense. Your refusal does not hinder Helghan in either way, so in the end I don't care what your decision is Chieftain Belladonna, though I do hope our peoples come to better terms. Eventually."

Colonel Radec reattached his headpiece back to his mask, his eyepieces shifted back over the upper portion of his face again, "Since we will not be entering a defense pact I will contact His Excellency and inform him of its failure, I have no doubt Stahl will be the next person contacting you in the coming week. I suggest taking up his offer, though not truly apart of Helghan's government his wealth and influence could put in a favorable word for your nation."

"Why are you telling us this?" Ghira asked with caution.

"The better your relations are with Helghan, the more valuable of an asset you become," The Colonel's eyepieces flash a bright crimson momentarily, "the less likely the Senate and Emperor will want to see Menagerie burn when our war starts back up with the Kingdoms."

Confusion over took the Belladonna's as the Colonel allowed his son to stand beside him, "But the war is-"

"Helghast vengeance," The Colonel interrupted, "is never easily satisfied, and I can tell you now, my people are not satisfied. Do your people a favor, pick the right side."

Blake looked up at the grim expressions on her parent's faces, she saw their distressed furrowed brows, she barely understood the topic at hand or its importance to the future of Menagerie. She trembled at the coldness in the giant's voice, he had rescued her, but his visage still made her prefer the sight of a Beowulf over him.

Then her yellow eyes went down to the boy, compared to his father he looked silly with the little black shorts and mask, she felt somewhat uncomfortable with his silent stare, he probably didn't mean it because she was also staring at him curiously, all she knew about his people was to be afraid of them, yet this child did not invoke fear in the slightest.

"Thank you for the tea," Colonel Radec said bowing his head towards them, "but I'm afraid our meeting ends here. I will be present when Stahl arranges his meeting, I suggest you accept his proposal."

Suddenly the Colonel disappeared from sight, his son followed suit after taking a double take where his father once stood and one last glance at the Belladonna clan, he raised his hand and waved goodbye before disappearing as well.

* * *

Beacon, modern day…

"I remember you," Blake mumbled feeling the gravity of the memory coming back to her, "I remember it now, geez, that was a long time ago."

Koza nodded his head, unlike in Atlas he didn't really get to explore the Faunus nation like he did with the Human one, he also didn't have a playmate like Weiss. The thought crossed his mind that if things had been different then maybe he would've had a similar relationship with the Faunus girl like he has with Weiss, but his heart was set on his snow princess and her only.

Then the realization hit him once more, this was a Faunus, not just a Faunus but the daughter of their nation's leader, so why wasn't her attendance in their briefing before they were sent to the school for the diplomatic mission?

"Your bow," Koza squinted at the black ribbon in her hand, "I assume that isn't a mere Kingdomer sense of fashion, is it?"

Blake met Koza's eyes, her amber eyes couldn't hold his stare for long as she felt him size her up, "I didn't want to be judged for what I am, but for who I am, things are not exactly easy for us in the Kingdoms."

Unsurprisingly the Helghast nodded his head with a look of disgust in his eyes, "You'd sacrifice pride and comfort to meet the expectations of others? Every day you wear that bow, you submit to them, every day you cower before their power that you LET them have. You only prove men like Visari right, with every cowardly act of hiding yourself in plain view."

"Who do you think you are talking to me like that!?" She snapped tossing her book to the side and getting in his face her teething baring in a sneer, "You think it's easy for me to do this? That it doesn't sicken me to death that I have to hide my heritage to be treated like an equal?"

Koza leaned down pushing his forehead against her own, "Just because it is not easy does not mean it's impossible, we Helghast are evidence of what embracing the strength of our heritage can achieve. Our ancestors did not give up and die on Helghan, they pushed through the hardship and over came it. Yet all you do is hide in fear, instead of stepping up to adversity and staring it directly in the eye, you blink and cast your eyes to the ground."

Blake stumbled backwards as the Helghast invaded her personal space even further, she found herself bumping into the wall with his eyes glowering down at her, "Consider it like this, you can at least hide yourself. The Helghast must embrace themselves as there is no way for us to hide in plain sight, and we seek no one's approval. We know that many will not accept us, yet that does not stop us from marching towards our destiny, they are but bumps in the road."

"You say that like its so simple," Blake growled, poking her finger against his breastplate, "its so simple for you because everyone is afraid of your people, they know that picking on you isn't even an option because your race is so feared by everyone."

Koza's eyes seemed to flicker slightly, "That may be a blessing for some but it's a curse to me. You think you're the only people that are afraid? What my heart wants could get me killed by my own people, and could get my love ostracized and disowned by her people and family."

It took several seconds for the raven-haired Faunus to process his words, but the realization struck her like bat upside her head as her eyes widened, "You mean Weiss?"

A thin smile crossed Koza's lips as he sighed, taking a few steps back, "I was smitten by her the day I met her, even though I knew damn well what would happen if anyone outside of my father's trust reported that information to men like Cobalus Pistris Eldritch."

Blake frowned not recognizing the name, "Who?"

"Eldritch is one of the most zealous Helghast race supremacists, even rivaling Visari on his views," Koza replied with a disgusted sneer, "he is an honorless worm, he performs witchhunts to find non-pure Helghast and enforces Helghast superiority. Good friends with Colonel Cobar, but my father hates his guts, because some of the halfbreeds he exterminated were warriors under his command."

The news didn't really surprise Blake in a sense, she knew only tidbits about the Helghast Purge but knew they did kill each other. However, the news of Colonel Radec's distain for this Helghast surprised her still, he was after all The Hound, so you'd expect that he'd blindly agree to everything Visari spat. Of course, she knew little about the Radecs when it came to racial politics, but from what she has so far seen they are apparently very liberal compared to the rest of the Helghast Empire.

"So that's why she was so excited to meet you guys first, and why she was embarrassed to see us try to welcome your team to Beacon." It all seemed to make sense now, she didn't want to look bad in front of potential rivals for the festival, she just didn't want to look bad in front of her boyfriend.

"Really? Welcome us how?"

Blake scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Ruby, our team leader, wanted us to throw you guys a little welcoming party and to hangout during school."

Koza blinked with shock, "Really? That seems odd."

The Faunus girl allowed herself a genuine smile, "Trust me, when it comes to Ruby, odd just seems normal."

For a dew seconds the tall Helghast boy stood contemplating the notion of a party involving his team and the Kingdomers, "Well, I suppose that would be good for morale, but we'd need a day or two to get accustomed to dryland. A party however does sound nice."

Blake nodded seemingly satisfied with the answer, yet had a look of apprehension, "Cool, I'll make sure to let Ruby know that then…but I have to ask, why tell me about Weiss and you?"

Koza didn't answer her at first, he opted to allow his eyepieces to cover his eyes once more, "I figured it'd only be fair that you had a secret of mine since I know yours. Though make this clear, Belladonna."

The eyepieces of Koza's mask flared red as he leaned towards Blake, "I won't hesitate to kill you if you use this information to hurt Weiss."

And just like that he disappeared from her view again, having cloaked and teleported away to leave the raven-haired Faunus in her lonesome. She contemplated what the Helghast boy said to her, he made sense yet everything he had said to her also seemed implausible because of how bold it was, revealing her heritage now for the whole school to see just seemed like a bad idea.

Though there was something poetic in just taking the bow off in a crowd, standing defiantly with a smug proud smirk on her face as numerous members of the crowd gasped with shock at her display of bold pride and fearlessness while random people cheered her on. That however was not Blake Belladonna and that wouldn't be the Remnant she knew, the one she knew was far more judgmental and cold, and the Blake Belladonna she knew, she was just a frightened child pretending that she was a Human because deep down she just couldn't handle the stress that came with being a Faunus.

She would almost admit envy to the boldness and respect the Helghast garnered, yet the whole reason why she left the White Fang was because she could no longer stand their violent almost Helghast inspired hatred for non-Faunus. The hate and fire in Adam's eyes sent chills down her spine, it was the same look her father described when he faced off against the higher breeds of the Colonial Guardsmen that were without gas masks; merciless, spiteful, filled with nothing but pure hate.

The irony pained her heart greatly, how they faced off against the genocidal Colonial Guard and the bloodthirsty Colonel Cobar, only to adopt their racial hatred for their own misguided crusade. She hated on how badly things have turned out, for the White Fang to rival the Helghast, how they've turned their backs on everything her father taught them.

Hate however seemed too enticing for Sienna Khan to pass up exploiting when she took power, then again, she couldn't blame Sienna too much, her husband and children had perished underneath General Metrac's occupation late into the war, she was the least enthusiastic of seeing Helghast products in Menagerie's markets.

She had a feeling that Sienna was not amused with the Helghast exchange students arriving at Beacon either.

* * *

Helghast dorm room...

"Just take two and you'll be out like a light," Antoine said as he pulled a small white red capped bottle from his medical bag, "but are you sure you want to sleep so soon? I mean dinner is in a few hours."

"I don't care, I just want to sleep is all." Sobieski grumbled as he snatched the bottle away from Antoine, taking his recommended dose with a sip from his canteen.

The Stahl heir cringed seeing the branding of House Cobar on Sobieski's face, he had heard rumors from the school and even from his own father about the Colonel who went by White Death in the Kingdoms, a cruel sadistic, some would say evil by even Helghast standards, horrible man. It was no secret that Helghast warrior men would spar their children, but from what he heard, Colonel Tendon Cobar did more than just spar.

He never heard Sobieski ever admit to his father beating him, even though many could recall the bruises he had when he was younger, those that tried picking on him for it got a lesson on why you do not provoke a wounded animal and promptly stopped teasing him. It became obvious when he took up full time residency at Radec Academy that he didn't want to go home.

If that was true, then he paled at the thought of the rumors concerning Sobieski's mother were also true.

Yet even with that incredible burden on his shoulders, Sobieski found the time to be a devoted Helghast nationalist and a…decent friend with all things considering, he was loyal to whomever he called friend, to the degree of spying on his friends every now and again, though in truth no one minded, they knew he was just concerned.

The dorm door opened with Koza appearing out of thin air, no one was too shocked or even fazed as they had grown accustomed to the apparent Radec tradition of cloaking and uncloaking unnecessarily all the damn time.

"Yo boss," Eli called sitting up from his bed, "the Kingdomer Ruby Rose requests that we participate in a party with her and her friends, what do you say?"

Koza stood for a moment overlooking his team, "I am aware of their request, I do believe this will be a good chance to get better acquainted with our new neighbors. What say the rest of you?"

Eli gave two thumbs up, "I think it'll be fun."

Antoine nodded his head with a smile, "It sounds like the opportunity we were waiting for."

Sobieski however snored in reply, apparently Antoine was on point with the medication putting the white clothed Helghast out like a light, he was turned on his side still fully clothed in his combat uniform, already with a steady stream of drool escaping the corner of his mouth as the other three Helghast stared with minor amusement.

Eli started rifling through one of his bags mischievously, "I'm drawing a dick on his face."

"Please don't," Antoine groaned hanging his head, "he'll go apeshit and break something expensive in the school."

"Belay the dick drawings Eli," Koza command just as the boy pulled a marker from his bag, "we can not afford any possible hinderances caused from a Cobar episode as of yet. For now, we let him sleep and rehearse what we're going to say when Helghan is brought up into conversation."

Eli flipped both of his teammates off with doubles birds boasting loudly, "Helghan rules and your Kingdoms suck!"

Antoine and Koza both sighed nodding their heads, "Something with far more tact than that."

"Bah," Eli waved off nonchalantly, leaning back on his bed with crossed legs, "they know it's true."

"How about this," Antoine cleared his throat and spoke in a very neutral tone, "with respect to our obvious cultural differences it is in our opinion that Helghan is first above all else."

Koza nodded to the statement, "That sounds boring and fair."

"That was so gaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Eli mocked with both of his hands cuffed around his respirators voice amplifier.

Antoine crossed his arms glaring at Eli, "That so was not gay at all, it was a fair and reasonable-"

"Gay."

"Get fucked in the arse by a Ursa Eli!" Anotine yelled pointing at the beefier Helghast teen with an irritated scowl, the big Helghast however was childishly chuckling at the skinny rich Helghast boy.

"Ain't my fantasy Anne, but I know you got a soft spot for animals, since we're in the Kingdoms why don't cha get yourself dicked by a Faunus?" Eli mocked making a jerking motion with his hands.

With indignation Antoine blushed brighter than a cherry tree in Forever Fall, he gritted his teeth as his fists clenched, "Eli. I will lobotomize you in your sleep."

Koza chuckled smacking Eli's shoulder, "Not like there's much to cut out in the first place."

"Ugh," Antoine grunted sitting down on his bed, keeping his arms crossed whilst crossing his legs with his face set in an annoyed scowl, "your antics will cause unnecessary tension and possible violence if you don't conduct yourself in a manner befitting of a semi-sophisticated gentleman."

Eli looked himself up and down and flexed his biceps, "What about me looks gentle? I'm just pure MAN!"

"Pure meathead is more like it," Antoine muttered with exasperation, his glasses sliding down his face loosely.

Koza clasped his hands together in an attempt to get his team's attention and move the conversation forward, "Alright, now, what do we say if Radec Academy is mentioned? What details if any do you give?"

Antoine was the first to speak up, "Radec Academy is the most prestigious school in all of Helghan, it rivals if not encompasses the capabilities of your Beacon Academy, if I may be so candid to say."

"RA is not only bigger but its full of the meanest and nastiest fockers you ever did saw just like us!" Eli once again boasted with complete and utter confidence, flexing his biceps with gusto.

Koza and Antoine gave the meatheaded Helghast boy a dull look, "This isn't a soccer competition Eli. You don't need to act like a hooligan the entire time."

"What you boys call hooligan I call patriotic!"

Antoine moaned rubbing his eyes, "You utter bellend."

"Eli," Koza groaned, "you and Sobieski need to speak as little as possible for the betterment of our mission."

The big Helghast snickered patting Antoine's shoulder, "Relax guys, I'm just messin' around is all, I'm smarter than the average Ursa. I did just make a Human friend after all, so that has ta mean something."

The two Helghast noblemen had to admit, Eli was no blathering idiot and compared to Sobieski he was a weekend patriot, in earnest Eli was the nicest on the team besides Antoine. Sobieski was the greatest concern but he himself could be curtailed by an order, though his fuming wouldn't be too hard to miss, as much as he hated his father Colonel Tendon Cobar, even he had to admit the White Death more than rubbed off on him.

Beeping from Koza's belt took the room's attention, the Helghast boy removed his Radc Academy TAPC pad and pulled up the holoscreen as the Helghast News Network's intro started to play. The first symbol to appear was the Helghast Party's Triad, with the motto of "Blood and Iron" written and surrounded by wreathes of gold, then came House Visari's sigil which signified that the Emperor himself would be giving a state address himself.

Whenever the Emperor himself gave an address it was mandatory to view it, though it was understandable that not everyone can stop what they were doing just to view Visari's speech, so every member of the Helghast Empire was allotted forty-eight hours to view the broadcast before the Colonial Guard or National Protection Detachment would be kicking your door down after reviewing a citizen's broadcast history and finding out that the broadcast was not viewed.

Everyone understood that the reeducation camps of Helghan were to be avoided.

Later on, Sobieski would need to be shown the broadcast, he more than likely would be upset that he chose a time to sleep at the same time when Emperor Visari would be making a grand speech. For right now however all three boys stood patiently for the national anthem of Helghan to end and for Visari to speak his words of wisdom and guidance to the Helghast people.

His image dominated the hologram as the music ended, "Brothers and sisters, the sons and daughters of Helghan. Today marks a great day for our people, a day that that marks for the first time in our history where Helghast men attend a Kingdomer academy. I know that many of you may question, why? Just why are Helghast men attending a Kingdomer academy of all things? Why is this occasion important to us to mingle with these peoples who have wronged and humiliated us in the past? Quite simply this is a show of Helghast strength, a show of the martial prowess and the superior refinement of the Helghast mind. Our brave young men who took upon this great task are the visage of Helghan. Intelligence, strength, fury, and most importantly…loyalty. With their brief time abroad they shall show the Kingdomers and the Halfbreed traitors who take upon residence on Vekta who the superior Huntsmen are, they will show them what true sacrifice and courage can create in a short span of time, they will show them the product of a civilization that only Helghan can create! And on the day of the Vytal Tournament when they take the stage, when they humiliate the Kingdomers in their own arena, maybe then they will truly see that the Helghast Race is in fact the dominant race on this planet. For now, I bid you farewell my people, hail Helghan!"

As the broadcast ended, Eli started clapping with vigor as he felt a new wave of Helghast nationalism flowing through his veins, the Emperor expected them to win in the tournament against the Kingdomers, he was not to be let down. The young Stahl also clapped but his face was straight and composed, his family had a rocky relationship with House Visari, his grandfather's betrayal had been a long-standing humiliation that had forever stained his family's name, his father Jorhan's "personality", wealth and loyalty were the very few reasons why they weren't wiped out. To say he had a strange relationship with the Helghast nobility and Autarch was an understatement.

Koza however was motionless, it wasn't uncommon for the Radecs to show nothing even if they were being praised for their actions, he was personally disturbed by Visari's words about humiliating the Kingdomers, the energy in his speech had sent alarms throughout his mind as he remembered the very same energy being used in the recorded speeches he made during the war. Of course, it wasn't his safety he was worried about, rather he was worried about the direction all of Helghan was moving now.

Grumbling that came from the largest Helghast boy's stomach however signified much more immediate and easily solved problems.

Eli patted his stomach with a chuckle, "Geez, being proud of Helghan is hungry work, you lads wanna grab some of that Kingdomer grub? See if its any good?"

"I think anything is better than the Navy rations." Antoine said as he pulled a map up to the cafeteria, just to make sure they didn't get lost in their new habitat.

As the three Helghast prepared to leave Koza glanced back at the sleeping Cobar boy, "Let's make sure to bring Sobie something back."

* * *

Lunchroom, obviously...

Team JNPR sat casually with their trays as they waited for their friends on RWBY to arrive for their usual luncheon conversation, there was after all a lot to talk about considering the new arrivals and about keeping Blake's recent revelation on the downlow, other than that they were also keen on trading ideas about the new course in Oobleck's class, unsurprisingly enough it was about the Emergence War.

The thought of asking the Helghast students came to mind but they had obvious reservations about that, first and foremost that they might cause a scene if there were any ethical and moral disagreements, then there was also the fact that they more than likely would have a more favorable view of the war as something their people were proud of.

Suffice to say when they saw three of the Helghast students walking into the lunchroom they went as silent and rigid as everyone else in the room. All eyes were on the tall and awkward looking foreigners, they stuck out worse than a sore thumb on a good day, feelings of unease and intimidation was felt throughout the room even though Antoine himself seemed uneasy.

"Wot?" Eli asked allowed with his big muscular arms spread out, "Never seen three lads going to lunch before?"

Most of the students looked away after that and went back to their meals or milled about to not garner the attention of the Helghast whilst they glanced back at them whenever the chance presented itself. The Helghast themselves however drew their attention to the food presented, more so on how alien the choices were.

"...the bloody hell is a steak fry?" Antoine whispered to Eli with a look of apprehension if not outright confusion over the golden wedges in the tray before them.

Eli shrugged his shoulders as he bumped Koza's shoulder, "You were in the Kingdoms before, what the fock is this stuff?"

Koza pointed at the food off handedly as he filled his own tray, "Those, my dear friend are potato wedges that have been cut up and deep fried in oil, then salted."

Antoine and Eli gave each other a double take of disgust, "That sounds horribly unhealthy, drowning food in oil? The Ministry of Health would have our heads if they found out we ate that."

Stark horror over came both boys as Koza scooped up two ladles worth of the contraband onto his plate, "Well then the Ministry will have to forgive us then, we are after all in the Kingdoms and must show of level of adventurism by consuming some of their cuisine, what better way to build relations than by eating the same meal?"

The Ministry of Health under the orders of Scolar Visari banned oily foods and placed a limit on the use of salt, claiming that the health of the Helghast Race would be at a great detriment by the mere consumption of these foods and that they would be left vulnerable to the decadence of obesity. Helghan held up to the ban with extreme prejudice, not a single drop of oil is used to cook, for example, butter was a condiment that the Helghast had no concept of in their nation.

Both of the formally apprehensive Helghast teens decided to follow Koza's lead, their fear of the Ministry be damned, and piled the food onto their plates. The Helghast were thankful to see that there was at least recognizable meat that wasn't battered in oil, though they were rather interested in the colorful fruit that had been offered as a side dish, fruit being a very rare luxury item that costs an arm and a leg to obtain on Helghan.

"Hey Eli!" The big Helghast snapped his head around and saw his cheerful little Human companion waving over at him as she and her team filed into line.

Eli waved, unintentionally nearly smacking Antoine in the face, "Oh, hey Ruby. Lady Schnee, Ruby's friend, and…"

"Yang," The blonde Kingdomer said, "Ruby's sister."

The three Helghast boys looked between both girls visibly confused at their relation, Antoine himself being the only one that could properly illustrate their confusion with his thin maskless face.

"Same dad different mom." Yang added with a smile to alleviate their incertitude of her claim.

"Oh," Eli said nodding his head, "well it's good to meet ya then."

Koza stepped out of line after gathering his fill and waited for RWBY to do the same before he gave Ruby a short bow, "Koza Radec."

Antoine had followed his lead, "Antoine Stahl."

Ruby glanced at Weiss with a questioning look and followed her lead by curtsying whilst saying her own name, her silver eyes however looked back up to the heir of House Radec, "So you're Weiss's childhood friend?"

"Why yes I am." He said looking down at the little girl that adopted a more serious look.

"Well listen here!" She said pointing up at him, "I'm Weiss's BFF for life! And don't you forget it!"

The Schnee Heiress facepalmed screaming inside her head, of all ways for Ruby to not only embarrass the both of them and possibly aggravate Koza, she just had to point at him. Weiss knew that she should've given Ruby a quick rundown of what not to do around Helghast, because to them it looked as if she was serious about challenging Koza in a fight over friendship.

A fight Weiss knew Ruby would lose.

Thankfully though the young Radec boy tilted his head at her, "BFF? What does that acronym stand for?"

"Best friend forever!" Ruby chirped pulling a disgruntled Weiss to her side, "You can be a best friend, but no one takes the BFF role from me!"

Antoine scratched the back of his head as he tried to make sense of that statement, "What?"

Weiss groaned giving Ruby a pleading look, "Please stop embarrassing us."

"Oh, I see," Antoine said snapping his fingers, "she's your Eli. Likes to talk about guns, talk some more, perhaps gets into unnecessarily awkward situations."

"Yep, that's Ruby alright." Yang said patting her little sister's head, not minding the hissing that followed and subsequent feathery hand slap she gave in her defense.

"Oi," The large Helghast said smacking the rich Helghast's shoulder, "do you want to get yourself a pile drivin'? 'Cause I'll give it to you Stahl."

Antoine rolled his eyes, "How about you quit being a knuckle dragging brute and just accept that you're a big geek."

Eli huffed nudging the young Stahl, "Says the nerd."

"The nerd that helps you with your homework." Antoine added nudging him back.

"Before you two imbeciles get into a brawl can we at least eat first?" Koza asked sounding thoroughly annoyed.

"You guys can come sit with us and JNPR, they're right over there!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing right at the table their friends say out, failing to notice on how Jaune lost absolutely all color and seemed almost transparent with stark terror.

The Helghast were able to sit on opposite sides of the table, Antoine sat next to Ren on the Human teens left side, Eli took up a spot next to Antoine whilst Koza chose to sit across from them on the far end, right next to Weiss much to the Schnee girl's hidden preference. A snicker escaped Yang, which briefly annoyed the Heiress, but she did her best to ignore it, Blake herself snuck a cautious glance at Koza to see if the teen was going to give her a warning glare to remind her of their little arrangement if it could be called that, she was relieved that he was ignoring her.

Ruby plopped herself right next to Eli, with an ever present toothy grin, for a split-second Yang had the faintest itch to try and sock the big Helghast in his jaw but the friendly fist bump he gave Ruby hushed away her protective big sisterly urges.

Koza glanced over to the occupants of the table he was still a stranger to, he snapped his fingers at Antoine and motioned to JNPR, "Koza Radec."

"Antoine Stahl."

The blonde boy almost jumped in his chair, "Oh, uhh…uh, Jaune, Jaune Arc! How's it going?"

"Ren." The teen with pink eyes said calmly and with the utter neutrality one would expect from a machine instead of a man.

His bubbly orange haired companion piped up with her nigh obnoxious voice, "Nora!"

"Hi!" The pretty scarlet haired girl said with a sunny smile, "Pyrrha Nikos."

"No bloody way!" Eli blurted as he leaned over the table, "The Mistralian Champion herself? Me mother loves watching your foights on the holoscreen, says you knock people around like a Helghast!"

"Well I'll be," Antoine gasped getting a better look at Pyrrha, "it is her, the Invincible Girl."

Pyrrha's cheeks became immediately flushed, she knew that she was popular in the Kingdoms, but she had no clue that the Helghast were even aware of her existence considering their immense distaste for the Kingdoms and Humans altogether, while normally she'd just be embarrassed by the attention she received it was somewhat different from the Helghast students, it made her feel unusually bashful.

Koza nodded to her, "It may sound a bit odd, but my father has seen some of your fights, or maybe all, I'm not too certain, he seemed rather impressed by your skill in your Kingdomer duels."

If she wasn't feeling embarrassed before then she felt radiant now, the fact that the most skilled Helghast, arguably the most skill fighter on the planet itself, was impressed with her combat capabilities made her face feel like a tea kettle.

"He is?" She asked somewhat meekly, a stark contrast to the confident and friendly greeting she gave earlier.

"Well, as impressed as Colonel Radec can get," Koza said giving an exaggerated head roll, "I can barely get a reaction out of him, he rarely walks around without his mask on even at home."

"Really? Even at home?" Weiss asked genuinely curious, though she had a remarkably great relationship with the Radecs, especially one in particular, she didn't know all to well about their at home rituals or preferences.

"So, what, does he have a whole wardrobe of the same exact outfit to wear?" Yang snickered.

"Actually," Koza said shrugging his shoulders, "yes, he does, exactly forty back up uniforms, they are uniforms, Helghast men do not wear outfits."

Yang blinked dumbfounded as she tried to find a way to respond that that tidbit of information, "Seriously? Does he wear it when he goes to bed?"

Koza shrugged his shoulders, "I actually don't know, I've rarely seen him wear anything else, and it was only in pictures did he wear something other than his uniform."

"You've never seen him wearing pajamas or anything?" Jaune asked.

"Pajamas?" Koza laughed, "Like what? A onesie or something?"

Eli followed his team leader with a hearty chuckle, "Just what sorta self-respecting man wears something like that to sleep?"

Jaune's face lit up like a hot coal as his own team and team RWBY all collectively glanced at him, "What!? What's wrong with that!? Its comfortable!"

Antoine failed at keeping his face straight as he nearly slammed right into his food laughing, Eli smacked his knee as the whole lunchroom could feel the almost artillery like booming coming from his maniacal laughter, Koza attempted to wipe a tear from his eye but instead just poked glass with his gloved finger.

"Oh yeah!?" Jaune huffed with indignation, "Just what do you wear to bed then?"

"Nothing," Eli stated simply, "I sleep naked."

Jaune opened his mouth to retort but instead of saying anything he closed, the Kingdomer teams immediately felt a sense of discomfort at the idea of this big and particularly muscular Helghast in his bareness, while most were frankly uncomfortable with it there were a few that entertained the idea. Yang seemed more comfortable with it as she could very easily see someone like him wearing nothing, her poor little sister however had the image in her head just briefly and could've sworn steam was piping out of her ears like a locomotive.

"You what!?" Antoine shrilly asked with an utter look of horror on his face, "The fuck Eli!?"

"Language!" Ruby squeaked as she was still trying to get the rather refreshing idea of a bare Eli out of her head.

The big Helghast seemed unfazed by Antoine's discomfort as he just crossed his arms, "Its cooler to sleep like it, plus its highly liberating."

"You disgust me Gruber, the fact that you managed to hide this from us is rather disturbing," Koza muttered nodding his head, "stuff some food down your gullet before you ruin our appetites."

Eli chuckled lowly as she looked down at his food, however he did not dig in right away, instead it seemed like he was a little bit hesitant at even touching it, "Are uh, are you certain that we're allowed to eat this Koza?"

"Oh, what's the matter?" Koza mocked as if he was talking down to a child, "You afraid that the Minister of Health is going to get Cobalus to come after us for eating Kingdomer chow?"

Antoine blanched at the name, "That isn't funny Koza."

The Kingdomers looked at each other with confusion at the interaction between the Helghast, just what exactly did this Cobalus have to do with food?

"Tell you boys what," Koza said as he detached his rebreather from the rest of his mask, he took a deep breathe, much to the surprise of everyone excluding Weiss, "I'm going to show you that the Health Minister and that goblin faced coward are not omnipotent."

Boldly, the Helghast boy took a potato wedge and dipped it into a bit of ketchup, he took a bite out of the wedge and swallowed after chewing it. A rather simple and menial act to anyone not from Helghan, but to the Helghast, he just willingly and knowingly broke several codes of the citizen's health codex, effectively spitting in the Ministry's face.

Koza bent his knees as he stood from his seat, he looked to his left, then to his right as if expecting someone to come bursting from the doors, he sat down giving Antoine and Eli a sardonic roll of his head, "See? No security or Colonial Guardsmen are kicking the doors down, no sniper has made my head explode, so unless one of you feels like reporting me to the Ministry for merely doing what we've been ordered to do there is nothing to worry about. It's just food."

"Uhhhh…" Ruby scratched her head as she tried to understand what just happened.

"Helghan has a very strict public health standard," Antoine said as he peered down at his food, "it is expressly forbidden to consume any food cooked with oil or with an excess amount of salt."

"But are we on Helghan?" Koza asked.

Antoine stammered as he tried to contemplate the outcome of this conversation, "N-no… but we're here to learn about the Kingdoms and-"

"What better way to learn than by first hand?" Koza suggested like a little red devil whispering temptation to his fellow Helghast, "How about this? If you two don't start eating, then I'm sparring the both of you first chance we get, barebones style."

Just like that Antoine force fed himself a potato wedge, though after tasting it he started to chew slowly to further contemplate the food, "…Eli, it isn't that bad."

Fearing the idea of a barebones match with Koza, the Helghast teen held his breath as he disengaged his rebreather and tried a wedge, "Bloody hell."

Eli, having been too surprised by the new-found flavor of the forbidden fried Kingdomer food, drew a breath not from his respirator and immediately began to suffer the side effects of the foreign air as he began coughing violently with his only relief being his respirator being used as an inhaler.

"Eli, are you alright?" Ruby asked as she patted his back, though she doubted she was helping by patting his back, the sentiment was nice.

The big Helghast took three deep breathes as he finally calmed down, "Foine, just gotta chill for a sec."

"I'm confused," Nora looked between the Helghast teens, "why is he the only one hacking up a lung?"

"Koza and I are what is called Evolved Helghast," Antoine explained gesturing between himself and Koza, "our genetics have evolved to endure not only Helghan's air but also Kingdomer air, we might feel a small tickle in our throats every now and again but it's nowhere near what Eli or Sobie might feel, they are what's known as Helghast Commons."

Nora's big wild green eyes seemed lost as she stared at the Helghast noble boy, making him feel slightly uncomfortable under her oddly distant stare, "Wut?"

"Let's do a comparison," Antoine said as he avoided her stare and gestured to the whole table, "the nobles that lived in the higher reaches of Helghan had better access to cleaner air, which slowed their conversion and evolution into the Helghast they are today, it allowed them to evolve to both climates but held stronger ties to Helghan's atmosphere. Helghast Commons were the Helghast peasantry that mostly mined and built the cities that are seen today. Their evolution was far more radical, thus they lost most of if not all of their hair, developed the reddened puffy eyes, the height difference, and the hyper aggression."

"The upper class Helghast however aren't exclusively considered Evolved," Koza added, "I for example descend from the lower class but because of the genetics of my family and time itself has produced more favorable genetic qualities I've inherited."

Jaune seemed confused by that, "Lower class? Isn't your father like, your leader's bodyguard?"

"Yes, he is, but before the Helghast Revolution my father was a miner that had collected enough money to pay for his tuition for his schooling in what used to be a Mantlean Remnants military academy. Ironically he built his school on that academy's corpse."

Eli inhaled and exhaled a lot more comfortably with his mask covering his mouth, "My pops' had more dominant traits then me mum's, even though she and uncle Orlock are Evolved my father's Common zygotes won out for the most part."

"Orlock?" Ren asked as he tried to place a face to the name, "Like the Admiral?"

Eli nodded proudly, "The very same man, tries to spoil me as a bribe to get me to go Navy instead of Army, big problem with that though, Gruber is an Army family."

"Wow, so all of you are related to someone in power?" Nora asked as she secretly wondered if there was someone in her unknown lineage that could've been a special person of power, though she hadn't the memory of any familial history before she was orphaned, "Did that make things easier in your academy? I mean it's your dad's academy."

Koza gave a deep sigh and nodded his head, "No, if anything, things were made extra tough for me. Guess who was picked first to answer forty percent of the questions? Who had to do an extra twenty pages of homework? And worst of all, who gets to spar the most skilled fighter currently living? Besides that, pedigree means nothing in Radec Academy."

"I was just telling Ruby and her friend about how that one lad got himself shot for a wrinkle in his uniform, fifth son of the current Duke of Sector Honos he was." Eli said making a finger gun and firing it off.

Though Ruby and Blake already heard of the killing it still made them uneasy at the thought whilst their friends seemed utterly horrified at the very casual statement of a student being executed over a wrinkle of all things, it was just utterly ridiculous to them that such a society could be so callous and inhumane as to murder a child over something so minor that could easily be overlooked.

"That's just awful!" Pyrrha cried out, she covered her mouth as her thoughts drifted to the boy's poor grieving family, "How could they do such a thing?"

Eli obviously rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself with crossed arms. Antoine shrugged his own shoulders, feeling complete and utter indifference to the execution on RA school grounds, it was just simply status quo for it to happen every so often that it was like a cloudy day.

"My father takes his coined phrase, 'the dress code is the foundation of discipline', very literally, violations of this very basic principle are not tolerated." Koza stated neutral with indifference.

Yang gave the Radec heir a scornful look, "Yeah, well it sounds like your father has got a stick up his-"

"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Koza snarled snapping his arm to point at Yang so fast it sounded as if a whip cracked in the air.

Immediately Ruby used her tray as a shield, inadvertently spilling her food all over the table, Nora had actually fallen backwards out of her seat and as she fell Ren was sadly pulled along with her to the cold floor. Blake was under the table holding in a scream as the whipping noise Koza made had physically crippled her and every other Faunus in the room.

Jaune sat perfectly as a statue even though his heart was slamming against his ribcage, Pyrrha had his hand in a deathgrip as she shuttered from the unbridled hate that pulsed off Koza's voice. Yang held the Helghast teen's literal glowing stare, even as the air around him seemed to shutter in a very unnatural way, one could almost say that he flickered in place.

"You may not approve of my father's methods, believe me, some of them are downright silly," Koza ground out as he leaned forward, "but you will hold your tongue when speaking about him on a personal level, or I'll rip your tongue out!"

Antoine slowly raised his hands, "Hey, she didn't mean it, it's just a heat of the moment lack of judgment, just let it go."

"It's not worth Koza, just not worth it." Eli said as he eased Koza's hand down very slowly.

Though Yang kept a straight face she behind her façade had a small inkling of fear, the conviction in his voice made her believe that he wasn't giving her an empty threat and that he just might rip her tongue out if he was angry enough to do it, "Yeah…I was just joking around…sorry…"

Briefly, behind his eyepieces, the Helghast glanced at Weiss and her eyes, he could see that she was worried if not outright frightened that he was going to do something regrettable which would reflect badly on not only himself but cause a mission failure on its own.

So, swallowing his pride and outrage, Koza calmed down, his eyepieces stopped glowing and his semblance deactivated itself. Antoine released a held breath and immediately glanced over at Yang, "Did you need to be reminded just how easily a Helghast can get angry!?"

"I said I was sorry!" Yang hissed with her arms crossed, "I didn't think you guys would be that touchy."

"If there's one unspoken rule on Helghan," Eli said cracking his knuckles, "don't talk shit about someone else's family, can't tell ya how many duels take place over a slight like that."

Blake cringed coming out from underneath the table, she was grateful that her Aura was doing wonders to heal her ears, the Faunus in hiding brought up her fork to make it look like to anyone that might've been watching she had been recovering the utensil. She hadn't realized that the rumors of Helghast anger weren't just a stereotype made to insult the mutated Humans, apparently it was on spot when it came to the lightening quick unbridled fury the Helghast can barely contain.

"Alright, fine," Yang muttered rolling her eyes, "wait, where's the other guy?"

Eli jabbed his thumb backwards towards the dorms, "Sobie is sleeping, now there's a lad that gets pissed really easy."

"He's the White Death's son, right? How much does he take after him?" Ren asked politely, even though he asked in a non-offensive manner it still seemed to be a very touchy manner for the Helghast as they seemed to collectively cringe.

"Please," Antoine pleaded with almost desperation in his tone, "don't ever compare him to his father, I don't like being compared to mine either, but he outright hates his own."

Ruby frowned as she glanced to Eli, "Why does he hate him?"

The Helghast teens cringed as they weighed the pros and cons of telling their Kingdomer associates about the very off putting relationship between Sobieski and Tendon, such matters were very personal to Sobieski, learning that his business being flaunted about like gossip would most certainly send that Helghast teen in a murderous rage.

"Between us all," Koza said giving off a serious tone, "you never heard anything about this, especially if Sobie asks."

RWBY and JNPR nodded to the Helghast, they leaned forward to better hear what they had to say and to lessen the chances of a stranger hearing whatever sensitive information would be told.

"Tendon Cobar by all accounts is one of the cruelest and most sadistic Helghast to live, it's no wonder he is good friends with that snake Cobalus Eldritch, both are honorless evil men but Tendon is far worse." Koza growled out, he himself had only met the White Death on several occasions and each one was less pleasant than the last, "It was said that he abused both Sobie and his mother, Lady Helena Griswuld, that he beat her so bad that she went blind in one eye."

The Kingdomers blanched, a wave of utter disgust was shared among them that such a man could be so cruel to not only his wife but also his child.

"The poor woman, humiliated, beaten, scarred with acid, tortured every single day she had with that utter beast," Eli whispered nodding his head, "she took it for a good twelve years before it was just too much, apparently from an official report she tried fleeing to Vekta just to get away from the craven Colonel, unfortunately for her she didn't make it. Tendon shot her as she escaped on a boat."

A tear rolled down Pyrrha's cheek, it broke her heart to hear that such an injustice occurred, years of enduring a monster like Tendon Cobar only to be cheated out of her freedom. Ruby faired no better as she wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, sniffling ever so slightly. Nora felt Ren's hand slide over her own, knowing how disturbing the story was going to give her nightmares in the coming night.

"That horrible monster," Yang growled with her lilac eyes turning crimson, "did they put him in jail?"

Antoine replied curtly and simply, "No."

The simple two letter word outraged the Kingdomer teams as they stared in abject horror, asking in unison, "WHAT!?"

"Since Colonel Cobar killed a deserter he was accommodated for a 'heroic act of citizenry', all for gunning down his wife." Koza muttered bitterly.

"He was abusing them!" Blake cried in righteous fury, "How can he get away with that? Why did no one help them?"

"How could they?" Eli asked with shrugged shoulders, "She was too afraid of him to say anything, and since Sobieski was a child he was deemed too emotional and unfit for a testimony."

"Lady Heather Anzak, formally Heather Griswuld, appealed to her husband General Anzak to do something about it, but his hands were tied due to the Colonial Guard being a different branch from the Army," Koza said, "She even went to my father pleading to him to appeal to the Emperor to do something, but without willing testimony nothing could be done."

"That's such bullshit," Yang huffed nodding her head, "utter bullshit, does he still have to live with his father?"

"No, Sobieski was allowed to take up residency in the academy by testing for an officer's course," Antoine said as he adjusted his collar, "in fact that's how we met, I saw he was struggling so I offered to help him, he's been staunchly loyal since."

Jaune sat nodding his head, he felt horrible for Sobieski, he felt horrible that the Helghast teen had to stay at an Academy versus going home to a monster, and here he was, running away from his loving family all for some childish grab for glory.

"Sobieski is a good fighter," Koza admitted as he took a sip of water, "prone to getting sloppy when angry, but he also gets more brutal because of it. If I were you, don't let your sympathy for him distract you if you spar him, because he will not return the favor, in fact he'll hit you even harder for it."

"It sounds like he does that mask his pain," Blake said with a sympathetic voice, "I can't imagine what he has gone through."

* * *

Helghan, Sector Mars, thirteen years ago…

Peaceful, an adjective no Kingdomer would ever use to describe the Helghast Nation, yet that was the word that could be used to describe the current atmosphere of jubilee since their victory against the Kingdoms, as food was now plentiful and industry flooded wallets with wealth. The victorious Helghast armies had been conducting island wide marches with parades leading their grand flaunt to the Helghast people that welcomed them with cheers and waving flags after the war, parades were even hosted now after a few years, dubbed appropriately as Victory Day.

With the fighting men now within the comfort of their great nation went right to work in creating the newest generation of Helghast in the years to follow. Some had families of great size, around six or ten new additions to the Empire, whilst some were lucky to produce any children at all do to the volatile nature of Helghan's most prized mineral giving off normally hazardous doses of radiation, of course with the Helghast physiology the radiation was mostly harmless in small doses but could lead to a difficulty in producing children.

A young Sobieski, no older than the age of four, was sitting on a hard synthetic-wood floor with little toy Helghast soldiers and a Heavy Hovertank breaking a line of Atlesian Kingdomers, he made shooting noises as he pushed the tank forward, knocking over the Atlesians with one hand, while the other pushed a flag bearer behind the tank.

Like many Helghast boys he was bald, crimson eyed, and pale like cream. To his right was a grand fireplace, crafted with intricate designs of Helghan's history from its humble beginnings as the mutated oppressed miners underneath Mantle's boot, to the masters of their new Empire with Scolar Visari depicted in an embellished god-like hieroglyphic.

Above the fireplace was a grand portrait of the most powerful Helghast men to ever live, Autarch Visari, Generals Lente and Metrac, Colonel Radec, and of course… his father. Sobieski however was too preoccupied with his own personal glory of a victory against his mock Atlesian foes. Though even as a speech of the Autarch's played on the radio, his ears could pick up the soft and warm humming of a woman that meant the world to him.

He looked to his left to see her sitting in her favorite chair, a wedding gift from his uncle, General Anzak, an ornate synthetic-oak arm chair with velvet colored fabric, brass buttons dotted in the crossings of each rhombus pattern. Her dress was long, made of black silk with golden lines encased by red lines that formed the Helghast Triad by her dress's neck that went between her bust all the way down to the end of her dress, a typical noblewoman's design to showcase pedigree, her face was obscured by a thin red veil that sparkled in the fire's light, an eyepatch however covered her left eye which left her sole red right eye as her only means of sight, though the patch itself was covered by her soft and chin length silver-white hair.

To him however, she was the most beautiful woman on Helghan.

His mother was occupying herself with sowing a Triad onto a black flag, a noble and patriotic act that was always encouraged by the State for women or veterans to do in their spare time, to secure their spiritual loyalty to the Empire and to show pride in their people's struggle for the place they now possessed. The boy hadn't known how long he was staring at her but for a brief moment his eyes met her lone one.

The movement of the red veil showed that she was smiling, her child couldn't help but return the smile with his own boyish, usually pale, rose colored cheeks. This is how he liked his home, just him and his mother enjoying the warm peaceful calm of their abode on a cold sandy winter afternoon.

Unfortunately, however, this proved to be the calm before the coming storm.

Suddenly big synthetic-oak doors flung open and all the warmth, all the joy, merriment, all the life was sucked out of the room. Sobieski's mother, Helena, set her sowing to the side as she stood with her hands crossed in front of her, she bowed forward with her eye staring at the ground. Sobieski copied her movements as he knew what was coming, he knew who was coming.

A cold gravity of fear smothered the room as the slow and steady rhythm of squeaking leather boots entered, each step was like thunder to the boy no matter how calm the gait seemed, his heart pounded like war drums as he heard the steps drawing closer, though not towards him, but to his mother.

"Good afternoon," Helena said as formally as she could even as she prepared herself mentally as well as physically, "husband."

The boots stopped suddenly, metallic breathing filled the air, Sobieski dared to look up, his father stood over his mother in his usual white uniform, this time however he held one of his white tunics in his left hand and a pair of boots in his right.

"Helena," His cold grunt replied, "Look at these things and tell me what's wrong with them."

With trepidation, the Helghast woman stood straight and looked at what the Colonel had brought with him, she looked down at his tunic then her eye flickered back up to his mask's eyepieces with worry, "I-I don't understand-I-"

"This uniform, has wrinkles all over it," He roughly shoved the tunic into her arms, "And these boots, look at them. What is wrong with them?"

Helena stammered and stuttered as she frantically tried to examine the boots, "I-they-"

In a swift motion, with utter brutality, he struck her in the head with the boots, sending her to the floor. Sobieski's mouth opened but no words left him, Helena had instinctively and after years of practice curled herself into a ball to protect herself. The Colonel reared his arm back and with pitching force threw a boot at her ribs, causing the woman to yelp, another boot came crashing down on her arm shielding her head.

"GET UP!" Tendon screamed, savagely pulling Helena to her feet when she refused to stand, he backhanded her veiled face like lightening, "YOU HUMILIATE ME WITH YOUR SPINELESSNESS!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Helena cried with her eye closed, her head bowed and shaking, she winced as Tendon's grip on her arm was starting to sting and bruise, "Please Tend-"

He smacked her again.

"Damnit woman, you should know by now to never call me that," He growled pressing his helmeted forehead against her bare silver head, like an angry bulldog, "or are you just too stupid to remember something so simple?"

Helena nodded her head as her lip trembled behind her veil, a hot stream of tears came down from her lone eye, they built up and started leaking from her eye patch as well, staining her veil. The White Death noticed the veil, he snarled with disapproval and mocked her, "There you go, Madame Waterworks! Why did I get stuck with the weakest, most cowardly sister? I know that at least your older sister would be more entertaining in bed, she'd cry less, maybe."

Sobieski bit back the rage swelling in his chest, his eyes stung as he wanted to cry but at the same time wanted to stay strong for his mother.

Helena hung her head briefly as she started to devolve into a sniveling mess, she shook violently as she could barely breathe. With a twisted sadistic smile behind his mask the Colonel turned his head towards his son, "Boy."

Sobieski held his stare even as he felt those evil orange orbs attempt to drill into his soul.

"Take a look at this." Swiftly the Colonel ripped Helena's veil off, causing the woman to scream and cry in shock, he forced her into a headlock and made her look at her son with her burned side showing more prominently, "Take a look at this ugly slag."

Tears of anguish brimmed in the boy's eyes, his fists clenched behind his back as he looked at his mother's face. On her burned side he saw her malformed ear having melted down too little more than a nub with a hole, her cheek and half of her nose had seemingly been pulled down towards her shoulder when she was burned, the skin was irritably pinkish red which conflicted with her fair milky unburned skin. Tendon further humiliated her by removing the eye patch, showing her hazy grey-red eye, too damaged to be useful.

"To think, she used to be beautiful like your aunt Heather," The White Death said as he seemingly reminisced, "Well, not really, she was the ugly sister."

Like a brute he threw Helena to the ground, not caring as she slammed into the marble floor, "Clean that tunic and shine my boots proper or I'll thrash you even harder, cunt."

Helena nodded as she curled up into fetal position, covering up her marred face with her arms, whimpering her response, "Y-yes Colonel…"

"Good," He said walking away, "I'll be back at zero eight hundred, you will not eat until then. If I found out you disobeyed me, you'll have a very good reason to cry."

Sobieski watched as the ma- the monster that his father was left the room, when the doors closed he immediately ran to his mother as she wept on the floor, he gently brushed her shoulder with his little fingers, but the woman flinched and crawled away under a coffee table next her chair where she hid herself.

"Mama." He called in a choked sob, his heart having been shattered by the awfulness of his father and the pathetic state he made his mother devolve into.

Slowly Helena lifted half of her head out from underneath her arms, her hands were pulling as much of her hair over her burns desperately. She watched him get down flat on the ground and crawl next to her under the table, her skinny, almost bonelike fingers gently reached out to him, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Its fine Sobie," She lied with a choked sob and forced half smile, "Mama will b-be fine."

The boy scooted closer to her and wrapped his arms around her head, letting her good side rest on his chest, he pushed her hands away from the burned side of her face along with her silvery hair. Helena tried to cover her left side back up with her hands, but Sobieski refused to let her do it, with gentle reverence he stroked her deformed cheek with his fingers, "You're pretty to me Mama."

A few stray tears stained Sobieski's shirt as his mother sniffled, his heart started to beat painfully as his chest filled with unrefined rage, as he whispered, "I hate him."

Helena blinked hugging her son, "Don't say that."

"I'll kill him."

"Don't say that!" Helena cried with a fear straggled sob, "Please, don't say that! Don't ever let him hear that!"

"He hurts you," He cried back, "he hurts you and I hate him! I want him to die!"

"Sobie, listen to me!" Helena pleaded, gently stroking the sides of his face, meeting his eyes with desperate terror, "Don't get yourself hurt for me! Your father is right, I-I'm weak, I'm ugly…but you aren't, you're strong, you're fair, you are the future of Helghan. Don't squander that for me, the weak, old, and undesirable are doomed. Helghan has no room for people like me."

"NO!" He screamed back, hugging her tighter with tears and snot streaming down his face, "You're strong! Stronger than him! He picks on you because he's evil and a bully, don't let him hurt you! I'll protect you from him! Y-y-you're my mom, I-I-I won't let him! Not again!"

A faint bittersweet smile made its way on Helena's face, she reached into one of Sobieski's pockets and pulled out his handkerchief, she wiped away the tears and snot that was making its way down the boy's chin, "Can you be brave for me? Can you keep a secret?"

He nodded his head silently as he memorized her face, to etch it into his mind like a stone sculpture, "Yes Mama."

"One day, one day you and me are going to run away. We're going to run away and never look back not even if we are a million miles away, so far away, that not even He will find us. Someday."

"Someday."

A large thump woke the teenage Sobieski up, he groaned picking himself off the floor, his uniform drenched on the inside with sweat, his bed sheets had followed him to the floor, the mattress nearly did as well. He stood up with a snarl, his teeth barred as he breathed heavily, a few tears rolling down his face, his nostrils flared as he gagged himself with a bundle of socks and his hands clamped tightly.

He screamed with muffled fury, like bloody murder into his socks and hands, he savagely kicked and stomped on his pillow with murderous Helghast Fury, this tantrum went on for nearly three minutes until he tired himself out. After a brief moment of composure, he spat the sock bundle out. Silently he got to work on remaking his bed as he would any other day, using the monotonous task as a means to cope with the utter hatred he had towards the monster that had tortured his mother for so many years.

Unlike many of his fellow Helghast he didn't join Radec Academy because of a desire for glory or honor, he didn't join so he could one day be trusted with the task of protecting his Emperor's life, it wasn't for the fearful reputation that came with the prestige of graduating the academy, he most certainly didn't join out of fear of his father, no. He joined because he wanted the training he needed, the training that would help him be able to challenge him to a duel and take vengeance for all Colonel Tendon Cobar had done, not just to him.

But for the prettiest woman to have ever lived.

* * *

Beacon's dorm halls…

After a frankly rocky if not downright awkward lunch period with the Kingdomer teams, the Helghast students made their way back to their dorm room with a packed lunch for Sobieski, they doubted that he'd want to eat Kingdomer food, but it was worth a shot to give him the opportunity to try it out for himself later, it would just need to be heated up.

They were surprised to find him making his bed.

"Was the dosage not strong enough?" Eli whispered to Antoine as Sobieski continued his routine in drone-like efficiency.

Antoine hesitated to answer, the dosage should've been enough for a man twice Sobieski's age, if he was still up even after taking his pills an hour prior that meant he had built up an immunity after prolonged use, "I guess not."

"Sobieski," Koza called out as he held up the bag, "we got you something."

The Helghast teen glanced at him with a distracted if not distant look, "Oh…thanks."

Koza knew the look and understood it, he set the bag on the school work table and directed the other boys out of the room, "We'll be in the courtyard, foods on the table."

Sobieski blinked as he processed Koza's words, "Oh, okay. Thanks."

Slowly Koza closed the door to the room and lead his teammates down the hall, "Let's give him an hour to relax."

"What happened to him?" Antoine asked glancing back to the dorm.

"Since you two don't take up fulltime residency at the academy, you don't know Sobie as well as I do," Koza said as he continued on down the hall, "whenever he has a really bad nightmare he'll need an hour to get back into a proper mindset, otherwise you either get him in a bloodthirsty rage or that drone-like state you saw."

Eli nodded his head, "Geez, that bad?"

"It could be worse, between **us**." Koza stressed the last word very carefully, "I found him sobbing hysterically calling out for Lady Helena, my father forbade every staff member and student present from ever speaking of it. Less of course, they face execution."

Not a word was said after that, their time spent in the courtyard was nothing noteworthy as there was very little to talk about with the recent conversation still fresh on their minds none of them felt the desire to speak, when the time came to return to their dorm they were surprised to find Sobieski had actually eaten the Kingdomer chow.

When morning came however it did not come to the Helghast team's joy, in fact they barely slept, thanks to an oversight made my Koza's rash and rebellious decision for the team to try out Kingdomer food. They had spent most of the time in the co-ed locker room shitting themselves bloody as the fried food's grease and oil tore the up on the insides, only after a small reprieve did Antoine manage to find the right pills in his medical that would cure their ailment.

* * *

Several hours pass...

"Fuck you Koza," A now normal Sobieski whined, he was still feeling the effects of the greasy food on him, "the whole fucking bowl was just blood and shit!"

The Radec heir gave a weak chuckle as he felt like a whole grenade was shoved up his ass, "Don't tell it didn't taste good when you tried it."

"Nnnnnnnnngh," Antoine whimpered as he unscrewed a bottle of indigestion syrup on the floor, "Ifuckinghateyousomuchrightnow!"

Eli it seemed was the only to have recovered the fastest, as he was now preparing his Radec Academy uniform, "You boys are such bitches."

"Well sorry Eli," Sobieski growled with an annoyed glare at the big Helghast dope, "Maybe if we got assfucked as much as you, we wouldn't be so sore."

"Ha, ha, ha," Eli said as he clapped dryly, "look at me, I'm Sobieski, I'm so smart, I'll make fun of Eli's Navy side of the family."

Antoine lifted himself off the floor, wincing as he struggled to walk with the soreness he felt, "Quit it you ingrates, we've got class in thirty bloody minutes and my arse is so fucking sore!"

"More sore than usual?" Koza asked cheekily with his fist going in and out of his pillow.

"You're a cunt."

"Do we really gotta wear these things here?" Sobieski asked as he held up his Radec Academy uniform, "I mean seriously?"

Koza nodded his head, clicking his tongue as he started arranging his own uniform, "Orders from Visari himself, we are not to wear Kingdomer clothing, only Helghast made products, and since we're still in school we're wearing them."

"Fock." Sobieski groaned.

The uniform from Radec Academy like every other Huntsman Academy had a distinctive look to it that separated it from the other Huntsmen establishments yet was uniformed to the school's specifications. It was a black uniform for the most part, unsurprisingly considering Helghast fashion, the double breasted short coats that went down to their waist, each button was a brass Triad, the lining of the coats were red, but the edges were white, essentially making the Triad from the neck down as they were worn as such. Corded gold lines outlined blood red lines and thicker black stripes that went down their arms to gold colored outlines around the cuffs of their coats.

Considering their race and the culture behind it they also wore garrison caps, better known as "cunt caps", on their heads with cordless gas masks the officers of Helghan usually used. Do to the strictness of Radec Academy and its most popular choice of punishment, the Helghast students always made sure their uniforms were clear a free of any unsightly blemishes.

Even though they were in Beacon, they knew better than to shame their academy.

* * *

Oobleck's class…

RWBY for once was early enough to get to their usual seat in class before the other rows had even begun to fill up, they had agreed that after their discussion with the Helghast team from the day before that not a word of what they spoke about was to be mentioned around strangers or anyone else for that matter, not only out of respect to Sobieski, but avoid any retaliation that might spawn from it being common knowledge.

They could see plainly on their classmates' expressions that they were nervous about the Helghast students arriving in class, some were vehemently against it, while only a few were relatively curious on their classroom behavior. Needless to say, when they entered the classroom everyone was watching them, observing their every movement as they went to take four empty seats in the first row just opposite of their team.

Since Weiss was the only one that truly knew anything about the Helghast and their culture it was no surprise to her that Ruby nudged her shoulder to ask a question, "Why do they have different symbols on their right arms?"

All the Schnee girl needed was just a quick glance, "Those are House Sigils Ruby, when a Helghast family earns Visari's favor they are awarded minor lordship, if they do something to really impress him he allows them to exercise more political power in the government."

"Oh." Ruby whispered as she glanced over at the Helghast students, one of them gave her a little wave and made a little finger gun, from what she could assume it was Eli, so she returned the gesture with a smile.

Given the uniformity required by Radec Academy it was a challenge for the professors to know who they were calling, hence the house sigils were an easier way from the Beacon Professors to pick out the articular students as none could read the Helghast characters on their name tags. Though its not a really well-known fact to Kingdomers, the Helghast of Radec Academy would always sound off whenever called upon by their professors or asked a question.

Out of the four Helgast, it was Eli that was most excited for the class as he was a closet history buff and was eager to hear about Kingdomer conflicts that occurred in the past. Because Helghan was cut off for so long and with much of Mantlean history being lost during the Helghast Revolution it almost seemed like the world just started existing forty years ago, so if anything, this would be a useful exercise for filling in the massive blanks.

When Oobleck entered the class, he was like a green blur that just appeared out of nowhere for the class, the Kingdomers were somewhat used to it but the Helghast were outright startled by his arrival in class, though after getting a good look at Doctor Oobleck it was safe to say that the man embodied everything Colonel Headmaster Radec hated about un-uniformity and would more than likely drive the man insane.

"A good morning to you all," The Doctor said as he spoke to the entirety of the class, he turned his eyes to the Helghast students and in an instant appeared before them, "my name is Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, welcome to my class."

The Helghast students stood from their desk and gave the Doctor a deep bow, a very common procedure on Helghan as it was the most appropriate way to greet someone of a Huntsman's caliber, one of the few traditions that they inherited from the old Mantle Empire, hence archaic to current day Huntsmen in Training.

Doctor Oobleck returned a similar short bow without hesitation, the man appreciated the gesture as very few Kingdomer Huntsmen in training show respect enough as it is, manners were not a common observed thing by the newer generations. Admittingly there were some things that the Helghast did that Oobleck liked, though they were considerably very few and very far between.

"Today," He announced to the whole class once more, "we shall be moving on from the Battle of Fort Castle and General Lagune's subsequent defeat, to the start of a subject that has no doubt changed the very nature of our world and its course of history after its rather brief but highly significant appearance. Of course, I am speaking of the Helghast Emergence War."

Unsurprisingly the class broke out into murmurs and whispers, no doubt pertaining to the Helghast students as they themselves sat silently, the only remote noise they made being steady breathing through their filters. Though if one could peer into the minds of the Helghast teens they would find mainly anxiousness within Antoine, pure giddiness with Eli and Sobieski, but boredom in Koza. Then again, in Koza's case, hearing about the same thing over and over again tended to get stale.

All of Helghan knew a great deal about the Emergence War, its start date and end date are considered to be national holidays where extravagant parades would take place all across their island, war stories would fill the radio waves as per usual, every screen would either have a documentary or movie playing about some battle that took place overseas.

Koza did manage to shoot Weiss a barely noticeable nod, her brief smile confirmed that she saw his gesture.

"Now while this subject may be a particularly touchy subject for a lot of people in every Kingdom it is extremely important that fact does not get muddled in rumor or in misconception. So before discussing the war itself we shall start by reviewing the events that lead up to the war." Oobleck declared as he pulled his clutter of papers and red string down to reveal his map of Remnant more clearly, Helghan itself being outlined in red with the Helghast Triad marking Pyrrhus Deep.

Sobieski nodded his head, approving of the sight of Helghast forces advancing on the inferior Kingdomer nations, he hated his father, but he loved Helghan's history and its strength, it was something he idolized, it was something that brought him comfort. His heroes were the Helghast warriors that fought with brutality and merciless precision, common, everyman Helghast warriors.

"Though our understanding of the Helghast Revolution, or Visari's Revolution as it is sometimes referred to, have been hazy at best for quite some time, we have been granted never before seen access to the more detailed version of the events that took place, courtesy of Radec Academy."

Oddly enough, Koza felt the smallest of hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his chest swelled with pride at the mention of his home. While he dreaded the idea of one day becoming its master, there was an odd sense of destiny about it, as if it felt right for him to inherit the institution he spent most of his life occupying.

"This lesson however is not for the faint of heart, from my translations of the Helghast written language, it is rather violent." Doctor Oobleck's warning seemed rather grave to the Kingdomer students in his class, but it was extremely silly if not outright cheesy sounding to the Helghast students, a lot like one of those political cartoons that mock the Kingdomers for their weakness.

"We shall start by listing the major players on the Helghast side," Oobleck zipped across the room at a startling speed, slapping several pictures of masked and unmasked Helghast on the chalk board, "Who can name a few of these individuals?"

The temptation to shoot their arms up to answer the questions was nerve-wracking, it would've been far too easy to give the straight forward answer to further advance the lesson but Koza ordered that unless they had his permission, not a single question would be answered until the Kigdomers had a fair chance to answer it themselves, this was a means to test Kingdomer students in their knowledge of Helghan.

Pyrrha raised her hand and pointed to an embellished photo of a bald trench coat wearing man, "That's Autarch Visari."

"Yes, very good Miss Nikos." Oobleck said nodding his head.

Weiss was next in raising her hand, "The two gas masked men on the right are Colonel Radec and General Anzak."

A small smile formed underneath Koza's mask, he knew that Weiss could name everyone on the board but merely abstained from doing so, whether that was to give her fellow classmates a chance to try their hand at the naming game or to keep the knowledge of her in depth insight of the Helghast between her friends was unknown to him, but he suspected the latter.

Oobleck pointed his mug at her before taking a quick sip, "Ah yes, The Hound of Visari and Visari's Fist, both legendary Helghast Huntsmen, very good Miss Schnee, anyone else?"

Blake raised her hand, "The white uniformed Helghast is Colonel Cobar, the man next to him is General Metrac, and the other bald man is General Lente."

"Very good! Very good indeed," Oobleck said as he looked around the room, "Anyone else?"

No other answers came from the Kingdomers as their eyes unconsciously shifted towards the Helghast students. None of the boys moved as they sat firmly and quietly, in Radec Academy teachers directly asked students questions, never asking aloud to the class as it invited chaos instead of order. Oobleck barely moved five feet in front of the Helghast as he looked at them curiously, "Perhaps one of you could answer?"

Koza nudged Eli's foot subtly, underneath the table, the Helghast boy stood in parade rest as he cleared his throat, "The man you see with the plain white mask and short overcoat is Colonel Vyktor Kratek, or Doctor Kratek as he is known by in Radec Academy, Chief Scientist of the Helghast Science Department, personal physician to Emperor Visari."

Eli pointed to two men in leathery business suits, "Those two, right to left, are Khage Stahl and his son Jorhan Stahl, Khage Stahl however made a terrible choice of rebelling against Helghan, his son however saved his family and their honor by swearing a blood oath to the Imperial Throne. Jorhan Stahl is currently the Private Sector Minister and main supplier of Helghast goods."

Antoine felt a light buildup of sweat on his brow, he hated the stigma that his family's name held, while his friends did not seem to hold his grandfather's betrayal against him, it did earn the odd glare every now and again from students of Radec Academy. It also may've had something to do with his father being the richest man on Helghan.

"The man you see without a mask and with a moustache is Admiral Orlock, the Emperor's second in command, as well as his title suggests, the leader of Helghan's naval forces."

"If I'm not mistaking Junior Sergeant Gruber," Oobleck interjected as he rubbed his chin, "isn't he also your uncle?"

Eli gave the green haired Professor a very firm affirming nod, "True, he is, but the day a Gruber joins the Navy is the day me Pops eats his boots."

The Helghast teen's unexpected comment drew several giggles and chuckles from the Kingdomer students in the upper rows, the tense atmosphere of their earlier arrival was slowly dissipating. Before they had left Radec Academy, they were schooled on ways to diffuse tension, humor was the best solution that they could use to keep a conversation from getting too hot.

Of course, for a Helghast that could be split second timing.

"Now that we have the Helghast leadership listed out, we shall now list the Mantlean leaders."

* * *

Stahl Incorporated…

Under advisement from Minister Schyler and his team Colonel Radec decided that he had to speak with Jorhan himself about the recent discrepancies in his finances along with the pressing topic of the man's private army being increased. If he knew Stahl as well as he remembered, then he'd have to be careful about what he asks the man to keep them from having a screaming contest in his factory.

Because of the history they shared it was no surprise that Stahl made time for an unscheduled visit from an old friend, one would believe that they were friends after the Revolution or Emergence War, but in fact they had been friends before that. When Khage Stahl had founded his company underneath Mantle's inhumane governance, he had initially invested some money into their venture, he didn't have much then, but it was for his friend.

Now look at them.

It seemed like two life time's ago they were nothing more but dirty mutant miners underneath the heel of despots in exile, scraping by with empty starving bellies, Helghast pride being little more than a fleeting dream of greatness, one that they achieved against all odds. At that time a young Mael Radec was no older than sixteen when he killed his first man, over a stale piece of ration grain bread.

In a sick sorta of way it was funny, that stale piece of bread made for a good tool that helped him beat that man to death. Since it was mutant on mutant violence, the Mantleans just ignored it, like they were being inconvenienced by the murder scene. He was thankful for it yet oddly enough he was angry that the man's life meant nothing to the Human constables.

At the end of the day, Mael was just happy that he had food to split between himself and the only family he had since his parents died two years before, he had the Hakha's that gave him refuge in his time of need, in return, he'd work the mines and split his wages with them. Yet the prospect of more money from ring fighting was all too tempting, it would be there, the start of his life as a warrior, where he learned how to fight and hone his abilities through constant struggle.

Eventually he managed to pay tuition to attend the Mantlean's military academy, for a mutant it was hell, it was there he learned to be especially ruthless in every aspect concerning fighting and military affairs. He met Jorhan on the streets, the young skinny man that would someday run Helghan's Private Sector, selling Petrusite irradiated Dust weaponry.

On that corner he bought the knife he still carries today, an original prototype for a transforming StA-18 pistol, its craftsmanship being one that many could never match up to, and since he had about thirty Lien left over he gave it to Jorhan to show his appreciation, telling him to never stop making weapons of such high quality.

Hence, he now runs a company whose weapons out shine that of Atlas and makes Jacques Schnee look like a minor noble with his wealth.

A Helghast Aircorpsman opened the bay doors for the Colonel, he left his seat and hesitated as he saw The Hound staring off to the side, "Colonel? We've landed sir."

Colonel Radec shook his head, the Aircorpsman shook as the Colonel's gaze was fixed upon him, "Sorry for disturbing you sir, but we've landed…"

"That's fine…I was just miles away." Years was more like it, but he knew the soldier wouldn't question it, in a way he enjoyed the fear that people held at his very name, almost a lifetime ago his was just another mutant nobody, now he was a war-god in Helghast form, of course he did somewhat miss going to bars with his old friends when they were impoverished miners working deep within the bosom of Helghan.

Colonel Radec stepped out from his personal transport ship, a civilian aircraft he personally modified extensively with weaponry as his own little personal hobby to keep himself busy, running one of the most efficient academies could be absolutely boring, teaching itself was also boring but he saw it as his duty to train Helghan's inheritors to wage war effectively.

Normally he'd bring a retinue of guards, but he felt no need for that amount of armed men to escort him, especially to see Stahl, instead he only brought an entourage of two. Romulus and Remus, General Anzak's sons, his most recent graduates from the Academy. Thanks to their high grades and pedigree, they were able to purchase Stahl's newest set of armor that has yet to be incorporated in Helghan's military.

He had to admit, the Commando variant was a handsome uniform, it certainly looked much more protective than the current Helghast uniforms, his own being the best of the Scolar Era or Founding Era as some would call it, Hera's Era will see these uniforms becoming the norm.

Unsurprisingly, Jorhan was making a big deal of his arrival, with his personal soldiers lined up along the platform with parade swords unsheathed and raised in the air as if honoring the arrival of Visari. A man of pageantry. Said man was walking past the guards to greet the Colonel with two of his own personal guards, admittingly the Colonel did not know the names of those men, but he did recall them initially being from the Colonial Guard, henceforth he knew they were well trained.

Both parties met at a halfway point as Mael gave Jorhan a short bow, "Minister Stahl."

The Helghast Petrusite tycoon rolled his eyes as he set his hands upon the Colonel's shoulders, "Mael, quit with the political dog and pony show, it's me you're talking to. Come, come, my suit isn't exactly weatherproof."

Colonel Radec humored the man and walked with him, both men had their bodyguards following them single file, as to avoid any clashes over the right of way on the relatively narrow pathway.

Stahl brought the party to a door leading into the greater compound, he leaned down and kept his eye open for a scanner that activated the door, "Now what brings you to my humble abode? I'm sure if you just wanted to talk then you could've just pulled me aside after the meeting or gave me a call."

"It's been awhile since we've spoken man to man Jorhan," The Colonel said as he glanced over at Stahl's mercenary guards, "new guards?"

"Yes, Marus Arlec and Simon Fell, both of which being your former students."

Mael squinted as he recalled those names, considering Radec Academy's standards and of course deaths caused in duels, graduating classes were rather small and often times reserved for the most ruthless Helghast men to excel in. He remembered both men having qualities he absolutely despised, such as the self-centered streaks both men held, not that he could really blame them, survival of the fittest after all.

But the skeletal motifs were tacky in the Colonel's opinion.

"I see you boys found yourselves a good paying job," Mael said watching Marus in particular, out of the corner of his eye, "though I had thought you went into intelligence services instead."

Marus nodded, "We did Colonel, but Mister Stahl gives better paychecks."

"And all they have to do is follow an old man around all day, what could be easier than that?" Stahl said as he leads the party past an assembly line, where armored beasts made of steel were being put together much like a cradle, engineers monitored and utilized control panels that kept the process at a steady rhythm.

Security guards patrolled up and down the lines with their weapons in low rest, their uniforms being the newest generation that would replace the Scolar Era attire, each man looked sharp and serious, yet the underlying aura of boredom was something Colonel Radec could sense, he himself new the feeling all too well, especially in this new "time of peace" as Ozpin once put it.

The term still left a bad taste in his mouth, for it was a false peace.

Helghan knows nothing of peace, neither does all of Remnant, nothing changed just because they stopped killing each other, Humans hated Faunus, Faunus hated Humans, and the Helghast hated everyone. On top of that, the Grimm never stopped their assaults on the Kingdoms, but without the Helghast around to increase their aggression things had considerably winded down in that sense.

As they approached Stahl's office the bodyguards stood facing each other at the doors, they knew that their place was outside when these men would talk, the less they knew the longer they would live, an unspoken rule on Helghan when it came to powerful men having a meeting. The Anzaks saluted the Colonel as he passed them by into Stahl's office, their actions simultaneous and crisp, almost like machines.

The Colonel took a second to admire the paintings in Stahl's office, any of which being originals, some detailing Mantlean Occupied Helghan to the grandest dreams of Helghast Imperialism, such as cruisers orbiting the broken moon and Triad banners flying over what was obviously Vale's capital. Such grand dreams brought to an abrupt halt thanks to supply lines being thinned and Kingdomer Witches bringing devastation to Helghast forces.

There wasn't a day that went by when he didn't think about his humiliating defeat, if it wasn't for the artillery to even the odds it might have very well been his end, though technically it was a draw he thought of it as a defeat since he was bed ridden for weeks. Never again would he be so compromised, even if his poor state did lead to something more fulfilling, something that would give him more meaning to live besides his duty to Helghan.

As his mind began to drift once more, the Colonel spotted a framed picture taken many, many, years ago. He recognized his younger self in that horrid Mantlean uniform, a wirier younger Jorhan Stahl, and of course the Hakha's in their uniforms. It seemed like a lifetime ago yet at the same time it was only yesterday, an unfortunate side effect of being a nostalgic old man.

"Those were the golden years, weren't they?" Jorhan asked as he poured himself a glass of Scotch, "Even with those lousy Human occupiers, keeping our people in the dirt there was some good times here and there."

"Hmmm," Mael nodded as he turned from the picture, "that they were, it's a shame they ended the way they did."

Jorhan nodded as he glanced at the picture one last time, then back to Radec, "Care for a drink?"

The Colonel shook his head, even as he kept an eye on the bottle, "I've been dry for years Jorhan and I wish to keep it that way."

"You take your vows too seriously," Jorhan said as he took a sip from his glass, "it's not like Visari always has his eyes on you."

"It's not just about Visari, Jorhan," Mael said softly as he started examining a model for some kind of new and very large drone, "I was in a dark place when I drank, and the last thing I want is for Koza ever hearing about or seeing me in that place."

Stahl clasped a hand on his shoulder, looking at the newer ATAC drone model, one that dwarfs the earlier models in both size and firepower, it was a marvelous new toy, "We were all in a dark place during Helghan's rise, what's the harm a sip could do?"

"Temptation is like a spark Jorhan, it devolves into a wildfire when unchecked," Mael stated ominously, he however decided to change the subject, "your son is apparently making friends, at least that's what Koza's text inferred from yesterday."

Jorhan's mood and demeanor visibly changed, he gave a loud groan as he set his drink down, "That boy, love him to death, but I wholeheartedly regret ever teaching him how to read Kingdomer speak, its given him all of these stupid romantic ideas on how the world should be."

"It's not like he's preaching about democracy Jorhan," Mael said with exasperation, "he's just doing what he's supposed to do."

"It's not just that!" Stahl said bitterly, he sneered slightly as he took a bigger sip from his drink, "The boy talks about gene therapy to convert Humans and Faunus into Helghast without needing them to evolve over generations-"

"That sounds very ingenious."

Stahl rolled his eyes, "Like we really need any more mouths to feed, on top of that, he's even talked about treatments for de-evolutionizing Helghast! He's lucky I haven't reported him!"

"Jorhan," Mael said seriously, "you wouldn't dare do that."

"Of course I wouldn't!" The Industrialist said throwing his hand up for dramatic effect, "he's supposed to be my heir, but he keeps on going on about converting the company to purely pharmaceutical company versus an arms centered company, this company was built on weapons, Helghan's culture revolves around weapons!"

"Of which we have more than plenty," Mael calmly stated as he watched Jorhan down the last of his glass, "more medicine of higher quality will be beneficial to our people."

"Ugh, yeah, and you'd just let Koza do anything other than run your academy" Jorhan grumbled as he sets his drinking glass on his work desk, he ran one of his gloved hands through his grayed hair he glanced back at the Colonel, the masked man was squinting at him through those red eyepieces, "Helghan is no place for the weak, I've tried to raise that boy to be like me and I failed, I pushed him away the more I tried to get him to see things my way. If you had accepted my-"

"I wasn't going to raise your son Jorhan." The Colonel said crossing his arms with a tone of finality.

"Yet you raised that brute's son in your academy." Jorhan countered with a hint of venom.

"I did nothing of the sort," Colonel Radec nearly sneered, catching himself even though he wore his mask, "Sobieski sought asylum, he swore his oath to Helghan, to Visari, so he was granted it with the knowledge he'd be treated no differently from any other student. The system raised him, not me."

"Hmph," A strangely smug sardonic smirk crossed his lips, "a system you helped create, yet you can't tell me you haven't once treated that boy like your own. Speaking of which, how is your boy?"

Mael relaxed his posture as he glanced up to a map of Remnant, more specifically towards the dot indicating Vale's namesake city, "From what I gathered, after reading his encrypted message this morning, he, your son, and the rest of his team are doing fine in their new surroundings, they have class today."

Jorhan nodded his head as he fixed another drink for himself, "Koza Radec, heir to his father's academy, The Hound's pup, huh. His mother must've been one hell of a woman to leash you."

The Colonel's face twitched, he stiffened his posture slightly, meeting Stahl's gaze, "You never did say who this woman was, just that she was a nurse, that she died giving birth, it's a shame really, I would've liked to have met the woman to bring The Hound to heel."

"Jorhan." Mael growled, his lenses glowing a faint crimson, his fists tightened, the sound of his leather gloves cracking filled Jorhan's ears.

The Industrialist raised his hands defensively with a small smile, "Sorry Mael, I forgot how touchy this is for you."

The Colonel stared silently at Jorhan for a moment, he briefly flashed back in time to a dirty wiry miner boy, with that same smile, "Why didn't you tell the Council or me about your recent security force expansion?"

For a moment Jorhan's face nearly twitched in surprise, but he instead set a suspicious pair of eyes on the Helghast Colonel, his lip quirked in irritation, "Just how in the hell do you know anything about that!?"

"I have my ways Jorhan," The Colonel half lied, he often times didn't se a need to personally monitor Jorhan, him being an adult that could look after himself, yet Minister Schyler's findings drew more of Mael's suspicion, "you know that everything pertaining to your security or military hardware production requires reports to be filed. Jorhan. I'm asking you as your friend, why have you neglected this?"

The elder Industrialist glared with unnatural intensity at Colonel Radec, very rarely had any being been able to pull off such a glare, yet Jorhan did not waiver as he stared into those red lenses, for a brief moment he saw a younger maskless Helghast in a Mantlean military academy uniform holding out thirty Lien, "I see, if you must know, Colonel-"

Mael's eye twitched at the hostile venom that Jorhan spat at him, he could plainly see that Jorhan's buttons have been pushed.

"-I'm still compiling the expenditures, more accurately, my two dozen secretaries are doing that, they can only type so much, I'm told that we'll have your fucking numbers by the week's end. Satisfied? Or do you want to go through the fucking filing cabinets? Examine every single last godsdamned piece of hardware getting shoveled off the fucking conveyor belt, Mael!?" Jorhan listed off as he took a step per exclamation towards his so-called "friend" with every exclamation.

"Lower your voice." The Colonel warned as he pressed his forehead against Jorhan's in their test of wills, even though Stahl was an Evolved he was still very prone to Helghast Fury, unlike Mael though he lacked the strength to remotely hurt his opponent.

Jorhan sneered as he stepped away from the stare down, taking his glass and downing it in a swift motion, "Get the fuck out of my office!"

The Colonel did not reply as he stormed towards the door, he stopped before making his exit, "Take care Jorhan."

For a moment both men shared a sparing glance at one another, Jorhan frowned as he pointed at the door, "Fuck off!"

'Childish twat.' The Colonel thought as he stepped into the hall where his bodyguards, the Anzak twins, stood facing off Stahl's goons in the corridor. Both parties flinched as the sound of glass striking and shattering the door was heard, Mael however was unfazed with the act, "Romulus, Remus, we're done here."

After unclenching his fists from the white knuckled deathgrip he had, Jorhan Stahl fixed his crimson tie as he returned to his welcoming leather work chair, his right hand found a covert switch that activate a hidden compartment containing a TAPC that the he had specially made to be invisible to the prying eyes of Helghan's government spies, its frequency being totally isolated from the rest of Helghan's Cabal of digital information. He accessed the CCT through a secured encrypted channel that would flood prying devices with spam and other sorts of malware to disable or override systems, after ensuring his conversation would be well and truly private he typed in a Scroll number.

As the device rang and the call went through into a private chatroom, he spoke clearly, "Operation Brutus is to be moved ahead of schedule, complications are arising."

* * *

/

If I remember correctly, I started this fucking chapter at least two or three months ago and intended for it to proceed quickly, but I felt that I needed to reach my twenty thousand word quota whilst not sacrificing anything relevant to the plot or character development. I've just been swamped with shit lately and can only find time late in the night to actually write anything of substance, but never fear, Doomsdayguy is here, and the next DKRWBY chapter should be in its final paragraphs rather soon, maybe sometime in early March, don't hold me to that.

But a quick shout out to Lord Cadeus Lives! for his amazing Helghan's Reach and DKRWBY tributes, who'd think some sweaty nerd would have his fanfictions getting youtube tributes, now, if only someone that wouldn't mind twenty bucks...or at least that equivalent in the Deviantart thing...whatever that shit is-

Anyways, enjoy what you read.


	8. World of Remnant, Helghan Part 2

"Dust, the element that not only turned the tide against the Grimm but powers all of Remnant, this mineral has made many prestigious families, mainly my own, prosper at an unprecedented level." Jacques Schnee boasted as clouds over Atlas cleared, revealing the SDC logo stretching across the frozen Kingdom. Lines signifying trade routes connected and flowed as far down to Pyrrhus Deep, which arguably contained only one SDC port.

Stores bearing the SDC family logo could be seen selling a wide variety of merchandise, "All of Remnant uses Dust on a day to day basis, some without even realizing it, from fuel and munitions, to clothing and toothpaste."

"Hmm, yes, unfortunately all of Remnant does suck from the Schnee teet." Jorhan Stahl added bitterly, yet with an unusual tone of smugness crept into his voice as Stahl Arms logos popped up next to the SDC logos, "They also find themselves purchasing Stahl Arms items whether they realize it or not, be it directly from my company or from one if our subsidiaries, the money comes to me, to Helghan."

The clouds once again clear over the mysterious island continent of Helghan, back to when it was just a barren colony of outcasts and mutants, "While the SDC had its humble but firm roots, it could be said that Stahl Arms grew from the shade, in poor and nearly fruitless soil."

Two Helghast men stand behind a measly patch-work stand of loosely messed sheet metal, on the table before them were a modest assortment of firearms, a blacksmith forge glowed down a tunnel leading to the living quarters for the Stahl family. A young Jorhan Stahl held out a StA-18 combi-handgun to a younger Mael Radec dressed in Mantlean colors, he himself was holding out Lien.

"Though we were modest, we were proud. As the years dragged on under the vile Human rule, our business was able to flourish, revolution was in the air and money flowed like a river." Khage and Jorhan Stahl stand before Scolar Visari, Mael Radec stands between both groups holding his pistol in its holster and gesturing towards the Stahl men. Scolar and Khage shake hands as the lowly weapons shack turns into a factory floor-room with workers assembling firearms.

"Whilst the Helghast had their frivolous war with the southern Kingdoms, the SDC in Atlas experienced booming success as we handled in supplying the Kingdoms with Dust and weaponry, Atlas very quickly became the wealthiest and secured Kingdom on Remnant." SDC logos labeled on care packages were loaded into massive airships, each ship guarded by fighters and frigates.

Atlesian soldiers and aid workers delivered the precious cargo to battered allied Kingdomers; food, medicine, and weaponry were distributed as the looming shadow of a MAWLR blotted out the daylight.

"Yet even with the subpar assistance of the SDC, Kingdomers everywhere knew to fear the Stahl Arms' logo on the battlefield, they knew that their blood would drown their ancestor's graves."

Kingdomer soldiers fell to Helghast troops carrying StA-52s, tanks broke through makeshift barriers and brick walls, flattening shiny Atlesian androids along with their meaty counterparts. The sight of a MAWLR was daunting as Atlesian mechs were torn apart by Petrusite lightening, missiles swatted Bullheads from the sky as if they were flies. As if to further humiliate the SDC and Atlas, Atlesian banners and the SDC logos were crushed underneath the boots of Helghast soldiers, the Stahl Arms logo had been inscribed on their boots.

"When the war had ended, Colonel Kratek came to me with a theory, a formula for what he deemed to be Helghan's ultimate tool for not survival, but for vengeance." Jorhan Stahl and Colonel Kratek could be seen discussing in front of a fireplace, the orange flames showed visions of mushroom clouds, the wood portraying buildings turned to cinders.

Jacques wrinkled his mustache as his arms crossed, "The Red Dust superbomb, yes. A truly dreadful project which yielded little results for either side." Mini mushroom clouds rise in the barren Atlesian wastes, black silhouettes lie on the ground in various stages of horror. Helghan's testing grounds were in a similar state, except for one site.

"I'd hardly call one functioning ICBM armed with a city incinerating warhead to be little, the several hundred deaths do due a dozen failures were well worth it, Petrusite irradiated atomized Red Dust is extremely volatile to produce. These bloody peace proceedings have halted my project. For now, at least, after all, peace isn't profitable."

As clouds once more cover the map of Remnant, red eyes pierced through the clouds momentarily, before fading into nothingness.


End file.
